


Training Livestock Is Harder Than Anticipated

by ghostwrittendiary



Category: Original Work
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Assault, BDSM, Blindfolds, Blood, Blood As Lube, Blood Drinking, Blood Kink, Blood and Violence, Choking, Consensual for once, Crying, Dehumanization, Explicit Sexual Content, Face Punching, Face-Fucking, Face-Sitting, Fainting, Forced Orgasm, Gang Rape, Hair-pulling, Hand Jobs, Human Pet, Human/Vampire Relationship, Hypnosis, Ice Play, Ice Sex toy idk, M/M, Masochism, Multi, Multiple Sex Positions, No Safeword, Non-Consensual Blow Jobs, Non-Consensual Spanking, Overstimulation, Painful Sex, Panic Attacks, Porn With Plot, Punching, Rape, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rituals, Rough Oral Sex, Rough Sex, Sadism, Sex, Sex Positions, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Content, Sexual Slavery, Sexual Violence, Sixsome, Spanking, Threesome - M/M/M, Threesome - M/M/Other, Vaginal Fingering, Vampire Bites, Vampire Sex, Vampires, Wax Play, basically six vampires turning a human into their pet/slave
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:28:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 49,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28735737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostwrittendiary/pseuds/ghostwrittendiary
Summary: Barely surviving a vampire attack on his own hadn’t been considered to ever count to his achievements; lying tied up in the back of a wooden horse-drawn carriage even less.As an offering for a group of vampires the only way to survive is accepting their condition to be turned into their personal pet - owned and allowed to use for their individual desires.
Relationships: Vampire (Original Characters) & Original Character
Comments: 16
Kudos: 74





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Character Names & Pronunciation 
> 
> Lou [Luu] (Lobod) [Lubod]   
> Radeel [Rad-il]   
> Tarliu [Tar-liu] (Liu)   
> Laxseau [Lakso] (Lax)   
> Taeslir [Tesir]   
> Deengar [Din-jar]   
> Yppha [Iffa]

Barely surviving a vampire attack on his own hadn’t been considered to ever count to his achievements; lying tied up in the back of a wooden horse-drawn carriage even less. The creatures hadn’t left any humans alive – the silent, blood splattered alleys he had been lead through revealed such to him. Him and the few others they had chosen were the only ones still breathing among them, but as fear and adrenaline is known for changing people’s mechanisms and minds, the breathing ones reduced as their journey continued.

He had managed to control his heavy shaking by steadying his breathing – the ones who couldn’t were silenced. Sobs and cries were disappearing from within the carriage as they drove on and he imagined – because his eyesight had been taken by the dark fabric wrapped over his eyes – they would plead and cry no more.

Vampires didn’t like squirming, uncontrollable beings, he had noticed their anger towards those back at his village. Some cried or begged for their lives, but their voices weren’t heard wherefore their screams were silenced at once. For those who had put up a fight or pointed their weapons towards the enemy an even crueller destiny had befallen them – what the vampires had left behind could only be described as the vague remains of human flesh. But all those – of whom he was one of – who didn’t react in any irritating way were spared from their barbarous slaughtering. He, himself, had simply awaited his turn in the corner of the room as he had observed them slicing through any living being that resisted or made any noise. Just when the room was completely silenced – a sudden feeling of hope had even struck him – all those piercing, hungry eyes turned towards him. The only reaction they had got out of him were his fingers wrapped around a strong wrist as one of them had painfully bored their claws into the side of his chin to pull him to his feet. After another quick glance, the order to bring him to a carriage had been issued and from then on we already know the story.

When the carriage came to a halt, he was slung over a broad, muscular shoulder and was carried away. He didn’t even try to make out any of his surroundings or to shift in his opponent’s arms; his arms were bound behind his back, his legs tied together and without his eyesight any imprudent movement was useless.

He then was put down; a freezing cold flooring inviting him. After a while he was pulled up to a sitting position and his blindfold was removed. The lightning of the building was fairly dim wherefore his eyes hardly had to adjust to the environment. He spotted two men talking a few steps away from him, but his mind was still dazzled so the spoken content was kept hidden from him. Only when one of them moved his hand in a swift manner the other’s voice got clearer and he noticed the other remaining villagers sitting next to him.

»The boss offered us one of today’s prey, you’re trying to say?«

»Yes, sir. He was highly pleased with your work the other day. He offers it as a gift«, the other man explained and bowed down slightly.

»The rest will be held among the others, I assume?«, he questioned after he had started to stroll in front of him and the other humans to his side.

His clothing was firmly wrapped around his body and its tightness defined the muscles and curves of his body perfectly. However, the loose blouse and the leather belt hanging from his lower hip swung swiftly in accordance with his movements.

»Correct, sir. I’ll bring them downstairs as soon as you’ve made your decision«, the other man answered from his position far at the end.

The vampire continued to walk along the line of his offerings, but instead of fearing to be chosen or not be, the man was fascinated by the heavy, golden amulet hanging from the belt. With every step he took it swung forward up until his inner thigh before it went backwards till the back of it.

»My eyes…«, a voice suddenly whispered dangerously close to him. »…are what you should be searching for if you want to convince me.«

He had crouched down barely an armlength away from him and his eyes had still followed the golden object without noticing him approaching. Just after he had spoken, his gaze flickered upwards and connected with his eyes.

»What struck your interest down there I wonder«, he added and grabbed him harshly by the chin after he had tried to avert his eyes.

»This one hasn’t spoken a single word since we found him, sir«, the other vampire piped up and took a step towards them.

»Some of us wouldn’t mind that«, he smirked and stroked his finger slowly over the pulsing artery on his throat. »And the rest will get him to talk. I’ll take this one, Sengen.«

The blindfold then found its way around his head once more and he was lifted up by two arms. He was carried up several stairs in silence – the footsteps of his lost companions sounded quietly from below. The movement stopped abruptly, and a door creaked viciously at the intruders, they stepped over the threshold and he was put down. The soft fabric underneath him wasn’t what he had expected to welcome him, but it surely wasn’t unwanted either.

»Food being delivered directly to our chamber is new to my knowledge«, a voice spoke from far off the room.

Someone plumped down right in front of him with a dull bang and a sigh leaving their lips.

»It doesn’t really matter as long as we can drink, does it?«, the person in front of him mentioned and a strong hand pushed his head down onto the fabric.

»It’s a gift…«, the man who brought him up here finally explained. He had feared the other’s fangs were going to be buried deep into his neck within the next seconds, but the statement had caused a mere, hot breath to sail over that spot.

»From the boss apparently«, he further explained and seemed to be contemplating on the truth behind the action. His voice was dripping with doubt and the other two silently awaited instructions.

»But a gift means we get to keep it, right? It’s like ours, right?«, another voice piped up and filled the room with excitement.

He slowly began to feel nauseous – his arms throbbed behind his back and the uneasiness arising from his mind conquered his breathing. A slight shake began to overcome him and small drops of sweat dared to form on his temples.

»You think it’s some kind of test?«, someone else asked, seemingly ignoring the other question that had arose.

»No, but…it just doesn’t quite add up in my mind. We are low on livestock already«, the known vampire responded.

»Can’t we just accept it? Normally, a minimum of 20 soldiers are feeding off one human before it dies…just imagine how much blood we all would get with one of our own«, the one pressing him down said.

»I fear if none of us does anything about the human right now, he’ll pass out«, another voice pointed out. His uncontrolled shaking had appeared unnoticed to himself, but at the mention of it his limbs started to ache from the strongness his muscles tensed underneath his skin.

»Let me untie it, let me, let me!«, the excited vampire was next to him before the statement had ended.

The ties around his arms came loose, followed by his legs being able to spread apart again and the blindfold falling onto the floor after it had been cut off. His head was no longer pushed down, wherefore he heaved himself to a sitting position. Several pairs of eyes were staring at him and he desperately searched for the known ones among the strangers.

»Why is it shaking? Is it sick…«, the one who untied him wanted to know and tried to hold him down by grabbing his arms.

»That’s because he’s scared, get away from him« someone blurted out and rushed to his side.

»Why are you all making such a fuss about it? Let’s just take… _the offering_ if you insist and suck it dry.«

The strong hand found its place in the messy strands of his hair again and yanked his head to the side. A simple, harsh »Don’t« was all it took for another prompt pause and the hand to leave his skull.

»We will keep it alive for the time being«, the known vampire continued his sudden exclamation.

»That means we can’t fucking suck its blood?«

»I never said that, but since it’s our all present. We’ll all welcome it – without killing it«, he had walked and crouched down next to the others surrounding him.

»I don’t like that idea«, the other complained again, earning himself approval from across the room.

»But you can’t just kill it yet«, the one clinging to his arm protested and hugged him even tighter. He was almost pulled to his feet by the same person as an excited gasp could be heard. »A pet! – I want it to be our pet!«

»If he had to act like we want him to, everyone would have a part of him to themselves«, the other person next to him mentioned. The others mumbled they could, indeed, live with that idea instead of viewing him as an objectionable livestock given to them for a one-time opportunity.

»But, but…please agree to an introduction«, the same person piped up again. »Humans need some kind of anchor to hold their mind at ease…he on the other hand looks like he is losing it – with all the colour having faded from his face.«

»Fine« the other unenthusiastic person who still didn’t seem to quite agree sighed and took a seat at the free spot behind him. »Laxseau, but don’t you even think about calling me anything other than Lax.«

»I’m Taeslir«, the remaining one – who had sat down on the last bit of space – answered.

»Yppha!«, the other smiled and punched the other vampire’s arm when he didn’t show any signs of reacting next.

»Deengar…«

»My name’s – I’m…«, the pressure on his arms ceased just as the excitement faded into desperate mumbling.

»You’re Tarliu«, Yppha said with a roll of his eyes.

»Liu, my name’s Liu. See I know it!«

The introductions hadn’t steadied his uneasiness in the slightest. Being surrounded by all six of the creatures made the air around him feel thin – his lungs couldn’t be filled sufficiently. The cold fingers on his chin once more caused him to snap out his dreaded panic.

»You’re staring at the weirdest things again – almost into nothingness I dare to say even«, he whispered and leaned forward. »Just relax, tell us your name.«

He slung his leg over his hip and pushed him off to the side and then downwards until his back eventually made contact with the mattress underneath him.

»I won’t repeat myself«, he threatened and leaned down to his neck.

»Just – just Lou«, he answered – his voice shaking and dry. He added he didn’t like his actual name “Lobod” as the vampire had called his name peculiar and implausible. The others had gathered around him and were swiftly adjusting themselves to some free piece of skin, but Lou’s attention was fully drawn to the whispering lips deadly close to his neck.

»Tell me then, Lou…you get to decide, it’s your life after all which we are claiming. We are giving you the chance to live on as our pet – our property – do you think you’ll be able to live like that? – no, no…quiet – «

He had hushed a surprised gasp. Lou’s eyes flickered to his exposed stomach where Liu’s lips breathed coldly against his skin, but the clawed fingers around his neck forced him to get into his former position.

»If that’s your choice, I want you to answer with “Yes, Radeel”, but we will only ask you once and it will be final. What happens next solely depends on your answer.«

Lou couldn’t see the others as the vampire whispered his promise threateningly close to his ear and his pulsing artery in his throat. Time passed – none of them were going to make a move without a reaction from his side – however, their impatience grew bigger steadily. Instead of an answer all Lou could force himself to do was swallowing his nervousness whenever he attempted to speak. Those dreadful claws and breaths gliding over his bare skin were unbearable; Radeel had planted the tips of his fangs at his neck, Liu stroked over his stomach absentmindedly and each of his arms were in one tight grip of the others and a slight chill accompanied with a hot breath could be felt on each of his bare thigs. Felt, because neither had he noticed the vampires getting rid of his clothing nor had he got the option to know their presences by anything other than their touch; Radeel had not released his chin, indeed, he had even tightened his grip around his jawline forcing him to reveal his neck to him.

The thought of how he had ended up in a situation like that or the will to keep up his pride and just die like he had expected to since his capture could’ve struck his mind, but instead it was blank. Blank with the exception of one clear feeling pushing its way into his head; desire. His body had heated up and his shaking was replaced with an even more painful, heavy tension of his muscles. He wanted this; to be here in this exact position – desired and played with even if it were by such wicked creatures.

»Yes…Radeel – «, he barely breathed the last syllable of his name when the vampires acted.

Piercing, deadly and deep they threw their teeth into soft flesh – all at once, all causing a stinging and burning pain to shoot through him. Lou’s attempts to pull out and away from them ended in failure and the rough hand which was wrapped around his unbitten side of his throat choked out the screams forming from his lungs. He was certain he heard their muffled voices and moans against his skin just as the wet sucking on his neck, but a sudden, painful throbbing in his ears matching the beat in his chest blotted out all of those sounds. A small drop running down his temples had its origin in the corner of his eye and added another stinging sensation which he tried to blink away.

Lou only notice some slight shifting of their positions, but the fangs clinged persistently to his veins. A dizziness began to encloud his senses and before he had the chance to think much about it, a black darkness enveloped him like a dusty haze.


	2. Chapter 2

Lou’s mindset had altered over the cause of merely five days. All feelings which had led him to expressing his agreement had faded further into oblivion with every passing day. He was still wanted by them of course – their feeling of desire hadn’t ceased unlike his. In actuality, theirs grew to such an extent that Lou couldn’t take it anymore and his own excitement had begun to vanish; for their attraction wasn’t for him but the warm, needed liquid flowing in his veins.

If Lou were completely honest with himself, he’d have to admit his pleasured feelings of comfort had disappeared the moment those fangs had pierced his skin. From that moment on, he tried to remember that phenomenon in vain as it was slowly slipping out of his grasp with every action the vampires took.

On the first day – right after he had woken up – he had realised Radeel wasn’t around. The first one to talk to him, therefore, had been Yppha who had handed him some fitting clothes since the ones he had worn had apparently been more than just removed the night before. However, their interaction had been nothing more than that and it hadn’t continued at some point later that day either. In fact, Lou hadn’t seen Radeel’s or Yppha’s faces until two days later when he had been lying on the mattress – neither alive nor completely dead at that time – covered with bruises and bite marks and hardly any strength left to move a muscle. Staring off to the ceiling far away from his position on the floor, he had feared his chest wouldn’t do as he wanted it to any longer and would just stop rising randomly. The pain – mostly from the bites, his bruises hadn’t bothered him at all – had ceased long ago too, or at least, vanished from his perception. Had he touched one of them, he was sure the pain would return to his senses, but like mentioned his muscles had already got a hold of his will.

His attention had still been attracted sometime on the third day. (And although we are talking about a concept of time here, Lou, himself, couldn’t perceive his situation like described. The windows at the far end of the room were blinded by curtains and additionally secured with shutters wherefore he couldn’t tell day from night. He merely assumed the time frame by counting the times he had went to sleep and awoken again.) The shouting and hectic talking hadn’t escaped his notice, but his head wouldn’t tilt to the origin of the noise, no matter how hard he’d try.

When he had been picked up from the mattress, his vision could finally look at something else than the boring, cold ceiling. The pale neck he had been looking up to had, however, not been less cold or lifeless than the flat part of the building. It had even seemed the person wasn’t less of an unemotional, unresponsive being as his former companion since he had been carried to another room in silence.

After he had been put down again, the new environment and his sitting position had triggered his hormone system; a prompt jolt from the place he had been sitting on and some panicked breathing were the result. Radeel had needed to hold him down as to not fall from the counter he had been placed on. He would clean him up, had been all he got as a statement before the vampire had walked off to fill up a small bathtub in the room.

Lou – much to Radeel’s disliking – had protested and insisted, he were be able to do it himself. Again, a simple order saying he should sit back down had followed. Lou hadn’t listened – had been halfway on his feet again – when Radeel had pushed him down once more and looked at him for the first time since his arrival.

Lou couldn’t even bring himself to stand or move properly, Radeel had stated the obvious. He wasn’t going to leave Lou in that position – where he would’ve passed out sooner or later from pure exhaustion – and wanted him to obey him. The pressure on his shoulders and the red eyes staring down on him, had led Lou to the decision to nod his head and give in eventually.

They hadn’t shared another word with each other as Radeel had tried to scrub off the dried blood around Lou’s wounds. If he flinched from the pressure or the stinging of the soap, Radeel would stop his movements for a second, but was onto the next spot of dirty skin right away.

After they had finished, Lou had stumbled back to the main hall on his own and had been met by the others. Yppha had said, he had explained them how a human body functioned and that they couldn’t just leave him on his own for two days without food and barely any water. They had also agreed on taking care of their pet from now on so that it wouldn’t die due to their treatment. And Liu agreed, they would take care of his marks and wounds from then on.

The remaining three days I have been talking about hadn’t looked all too different than his past experiences. He got supplies and sufficient sleep, but their behaviour had slowly – but steadily – made him lose his mind. They all merely noticed his presence whenever they had wanted to take a drink or let out their anger on him – which had mostly happened in combination with each other. If he tried to talk to them, they would tell him off or he would get another punch when he didn’t stop pushing.

His mental sanity had then been the reason for his plan; for he had wanted to keep it and therefore had seen his only option in maintaining his goal in an escape. He had waited all long – oh so long – five days to finally catch some glimpse of information from their conversations which would be his opportunity to strike.

»We can’t miss that occasion – none of us«, Radeel said to the others who were gathered around the table.

They didn’t pay attention to Lou during their arguments or information sharing. He, on the other hand, studied each of them profoundly whenever he got the chance. They hardly discussed any important or sensitive topics in front of him and since sneaking up on them was the last thing he wanted to do, he filtered as much useful information as possible out of the ones he got to hear.

»We are only obligated to attend an appearance of the boss himself«, Lax mentioned from his spot on the small couch next to them. He rarely sat with them and if he raised his voice, he would for a disagreement.

»If it’s the boss’ direct subordinate who wants to check on the storage and the henchmen’s correct proceedings, I believe his role falls under the category of representative«, Radeel responded and earned silence of the other man. The topic was dropped, Lax didn’t agree – never – he just didn’t disagree any longer.

»Is Treces going to be the one coming?«, Liu piped up. »Will he provide us with supplies again? Like the ones last time?«

»The letter stated that, yes«, Radeel explained and leaned forward onto the table. »And if your second question is the case, then he’ll definitely not do so unintentionally. Instructions are always given to us if he delivers.«

»And we’ll be able to get closer to the boss if he’s delivering another job on the documents we discussed…«, Taeslir half concluded, half questioned.

»I doubt it will get us closer to the boss, but if our work was to the boss’ liking, we’ll be granted a higher rank and an audience eventually.«

»That’s still the goal?«, Lax questioned without looking up from the book in his hand.

»It’s been and will be«, Radeel said and got up.

»What are we gonna do about the human?«, Deengar threw in his question and got a silent contemplating of the others. Frozen in place they turned their gazes towards him – sitting on his mattress seemingly unsuspicious with a small book in his hand. (Yppha had given it to him, saying it would ease his mind. He did appreciate it, but his action had the sole intend to shake Lou off his tail since he was the only one who wouldn’t threaten him if he spoke to him.)

»He can’t really get anywhere, can he?«, Yppha guessed and sat back down.

»Can I break its leg to make sure, Radeel?«, Liu asked and clasped their hands into a fist in front of their chest. Radeel didn’t answer, but another affirmation of his opinion on that question must had happened since Liu sighed and plumbed down on the floor.

»How about chaining him down?«, Taeslir suggested.

»No…«, Radeel answered and pushed himself away from the table before walking over to Lou and crouching down. »We’ll simply tell him.«

Lou had been showing is interest as soon as the term human had come up, but they couldn’t tell his curiosity on the previous topic; he had been careful and surely wasn’t to expose himself now.

»If he thinks it’s for his own good to run off – or try rather – we won’t stop him.«

Radeel smirked and kept his eyes fixed on Lou’s face. Even his facial expressions were cold like stone under his glare, he couldn’t know his plan, he hadn’t shown them any signs, his statement was a simple, hollow attempt of him trying to intimidate and threaten Lou enough into submitting.

»He won’t do that!«, Liu popped up from behind the table and rushed forward. »It promised to be our pet after all. So, if I say he must stay, that’s what he’ll do.«

»We, Liu…«, Deengar groaned in annoyance.

»Well, we told him to not run away. Let’s see…«, Radeel said, got up and walked off to his room. »Meeting’s at eleven.«

They left one after the other, leaving Lou on his own eventually. He stuck his nose into the book in his hand as soon as they were out of sight and lay down to hide the shaking muscles he couldn’t cover with the object. Still; he’d see through with it. Death was unwanted, but living this close to it for the rest of his life was even less desired. At least, he couldn’t regret not having tried…

They had left. Lou had waited.

He had hesitated to open the door to the hallway, in fact, he hadn’t even dared to touch the knob yet. Doubt was trying to creep its way into his plan as soon as he had stood up. His mind told him to back off; what if they made all of it up and waited on the other side? Or could there be another room behind the door which would lead him right to his doom?

His hand was shaking – he couldn’t even remember what it felt like without the constant movement. Lou told himself, he’d need to, no matter what. The hours had been counted precisely until their mentioned departure, but now – with the awaited moment and the start to his escape right at hand – his body refused to move. A single touch of the knob would’ve sufficed to let him proceed, however, the golden metal shining dangerously inviting towards him wouldn’t let him to it.

Lou shook his head; he’d manage. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and jolted his hand forward. Connecting with the knob, the touch almost felt electrifying. The door was pushed open within the same instant and a view on the broad hallway was revealed to his eyes.

Lou breathed again.

He rushed out of the room and off into one direction. There were more ways than he had expected and his plan to run outside through the quickest and easiest way – vaguely remembered from the carrying up here at his arrival – wasn’t to be found. Fortunately, the halls were empty of any – well – being whom he could’ve crossed paths with.

A brief joy of hope sparked in his eyes when Lou spotted a huge window at the end of a long hallway, but the sound of distinct footsteps and chattering made him stop. As he noticed they were getting closer, he acted on instinct and hid in the nearest room. After he had closed the door again – relieved that it was merely a small storage of several, indistinguishable papers – he backed away from the entrance a few steps.

He had stood with his back against the wall for who knows how long. Silent and praying, he had waited for the muffled voices outside to cease. When they finally had and feet dragged over the floor, hope had shortly formed in his mind, just before the door flew open. He blamed his breathing, his heartbeat – yes, the shaking of his hands even – for making enough noise to attract attention, but in the end it was is naivety which was at fault.

»First, I get told my whole thesis I put effort in is not even close to being somewhat wanted or needed…«, Liu said and stepped over the threshold. »And then, just as Treces went away a familiar smell struck my nose.« They closed the door.

A row of candles ignited with bright blue flames after a quiet snip of two fingers, and a white, small creature was staring up at him with lifeless eyes.

»Why«, they breathed and brought their hand up to cover Lou’s cheek. »Why would it break the vow…I thought you understood.«

Their pair of shimmering blue eyes under the flickering light, disappeared as Lou threw a hard-cover book he had noticed and grabbed from between the papers over Liu’s head. He pushed them into one of the shelfs and jumped for the door, but his face and front met the floor instead.

»Should I break or tear it off for mistaking me for weak?«, Liu whispered and held Lou’s arm painfully overstretched upward behind his back. Their knee rested on Lou’s lower back and earned a pained whimper as they pushed stronger and stretched even farther.

»Stop! Stop, please, stop…«, Lou cried out and felt small pearls roll down his cheeks.

»No, no, don’t cry«, Liu said and let go off his arm, before turning the other over to look at his face. Although Lou was still lying sideways, he could look up into the blurred image of a worried face. »I didn’t mean to hurt it, is it fine?«

Lou attempted to form a response to talk his way out of the situation, but was cut off before the first sound had even met his lips. He choked on his own, lost breath while Liu was holding their hands pressed firmly to his throat and stemmed their arms against him.

»Why…suffer, suffer«, they breathed hectically and started to laugh at the end of it. »You said you wouldn’t…tell me what this is then, tell me!«

Lou barely managed to hold onto their wrist and choke out their name with the last bits of air he had left. His action being a success, Liu let go and placed their hands on either side of Lou’s head instead.

»Why escape?«, Liu laughed sadly while Lou was busy coughing and regaining his breath. He tried to reply, he wasn’t escaping, in between his coughing, but caused Liu to cover his mouth with their hand as a result.

»Don’t lie! Don’t lie…not to my face again«, they screamed and leaned forward again. »No breath…astonishing….you’ll die.«

Lou tried to clasp his hand around the fingers over his mouth desperately. The salty liquid which had begun to form again hurt his eyes, but the aching in his chest high off exceeded the simple stung. His last resort ended with his hand on Liu’s cheek where it briefly felt the cold, clear skin before it fell strengthless to the floor. The cover on his mouth disappeared and Lou turned away frightened as Liu sat back.

»I can’t kill it…told Radeel we won’t…but we told it…run away…kill him«, Liu mumbled and brushed some strands of hair out of their face.

»I’m…sorry…please…«, Lou choked and shielded his face with his arms afraid of another punch. »Please, don’t…«

Liu pushed themselves to their feet and walked to the door. They ordered him to get up and follow them, after they had opened the door. Neither spoke up again – the silence being extremely unappreciated. Lou felt like every step he took brought him closer to his death trial – inevitable and painful till the last second of it.

»Liu…?«, he whispered and fumbled with his fingers entangled with each other. Their hissed response told him to be quiet and was enough for Lou to obey without a second thought – even if it were nothing but a simple »No«.

When they had reached the disgusting door Lou detested so much, Liu didn’t give him the chance to speak up once again. With one swift movement the door was opened, and Lou was pushed inside – only to be met with another harsh push against the wall. Deengar being the one to build himself up in front of him.

»I want to kick it till it dies«, he grumbled and glanced at Radeel from the corner of his eye. An unbothered shrug was all that he responded with, before Deengar threw him off his feet so that his knees connected painfully with the flooring. His arms were meant as a shield once more as Deengar did as he liked; the kicks didn’t hurt any less like that, however.

»In the room with all the dead trees«, he could hear Liu say and noticed the angered expression on Radeel’s face through the slits between his arms.

»The documentary…that’s almost as far as the stairs« Radeel mumbled and sat down on the chair next to the table.

»It said it didn’t try to leave…«

»What else was it fucking trying to do, use your brain, idiot«, Deengar screamed and threw his foot into Lou’s stomach strongly once more.

»I know, don’t call me dumb, when you only think about brawling«, Liu responded while forcing their claws to appear on the tip of their fingers.

»Is the little brat threatening me?«

Deengar turned towards them and brought his fists up himself. They were both determined to slice through the other because of their small dispute.

»Let them be, Deengar«, Radeel ordered and walked over to Lou’s side by stepping between them both. »Slice our failed attempt of a liar open instead.«

Lou had pushed himself up to his knees and hands and dizzily stared at the puddle of blood on the floor. The blood he had coughed up dropped down his chin and formed a growing, red mark underneath him. A hard kick to his side made him lose his balance, however, and the small pool was replaced by the plain ceiling.

»Wait…please«, Lou cried and covered his eyes with his arm as he coughed up some blood once more. »I’m – «

»You don’t seem to understand«, Radeel cut him off and grabbed the arm to push it away from Lou’s face. »We couldn’t care less.«

He leaned in closer and displayed his fangs.

»No!«, Lou protested and threw his fist towards the man. His hand didn’t reach anywhere near the wanted destination to begin with; however, the resistance still played out successful as his arm was pushed and held down to the floor, with Radeel staring right into his face. It wasn’t his fault, Lou added and whimpered again, when Deengar’s foot connected with his stomach.

»Know your damn place, I’ve got enough«, he answered and threw his fangs right into his chest.

»Give me a second chance, let me try! Please, I’ll – «, Lou screamed while he was desperately trying to kick Deengar off him.

»Trying was over the second you agreed to this«, Lax said from across the room and sat up.

»You can’t expect me to just accept – argh…«

»I didn’t expect you to do anything« Radeel said casually and added some pressure on the arm he was holding. Lou couldn’t speak any longer, the screaming of his pain took away all the space for verbal communication and eventually even his limbs went numb from exhaustion. Radeel let go out the arm in his grip and Deengar, too, moved away after Lou’s whimpering had vanished.

»I don’t want to die…«, he breathed in frustration. »Please…but I can’t live like that either.«

»We’re not the ones at fault, can’t that bitch of a bug get that?«, Deengar groaned and pushed himself up on Lou’s chest.

»We gave him our rules and kept him busy, I don’t see where he is trying to get with that statement«, Yppha responded and seemed to evaluate on what he had said thoroughly.

»I tried to tell you«, Lou said and tried to sit up; the ceiling depressed him, and he feared for tears to well up in his eyes again. Deengar’s hand closed around his throat the second he had pulled himself up, however. »This is the first time you listen.«

Lou searched for Liu and spotted them to his left. They were leaning against the door and stared down on him. He hadn’t had a choice, he explained. The feeling of no recognition at all had been unbearable.

»What a drag…«, Radeel sighed and fell back onto the floor. »Why is this much more difficult than anticipated? All those feelings, just drown them out if you want to survive.«

»I don’t think humans can function like that«, Taeslir piped up and Radeel turned towards him from his spot on the floor.

»We have to interact with him or something?«

»He needs some sort of reward if he behaves, you can’t train any living beings any other way.«

»He doesn’t deserve a reward, what the hell? I want a punishment«, Deengar exclaimed.

»Me too«, Liu added.

»So, we are still gonna keep him after that?«, Lax questioned and walked over to join their gathering.

»Everyone of us will present one rule«, Radeel said and sat up. »He will listen to them, ask for minor changes or additions and then he’ll accept them – unconditionally. Therefore, he can name one request, too.«

He crawled towards Lou and closed the gap between them. Strongly he grabbed his shoulders from behind his back and leaned in even closer.

»Should he, however, disobey any of them in the slightest…«, he whispered against his ear. An amused grin dripped off his voice and a quite chuckle was heard as he continued. »We won’t kill him – no – I’ll cut your legs and arms off personally, chain you up so you can’t talk anymore and use you as a helpless blood bank for the rest of your life.«

Lou expressed his answer through an involuntary whimper and shake of his spine.

»I don’t want him to talk without permission«, Lax was the first to condition his rule. Lou looked at him still mind-dazzled and asked if he could ask for permission whenever he wanted to speak.

»If I tell you to shut up, I want you to be quiet.«

He nodded weakly and mumbled a quiet agreement, before Deengar explained he wanted to drink his blood whenever he’d like. After some discussion they agreed, Lou could tell them if he was exhausted or felt sick, but they didn’t necessarily have to accept his refusing.

»I want to give him a collar!«, Liu exclaimed and almost jumped onto Lou once again. His only reaction was a dumbfounded stare and a worried glance in need of help to Radeel.

»It’s got to be a removable, Liu. We can’t drink his blood otherwise«, he said, but looked at Lou with a piercing glance.

»But I can’t put a spell on one of those! I want to make him mine.«

»Ours«, Yppha corrected and suggested to use on of their vials.

»They are gonna do what?«, Lou finally asked – confused and scared.

»It’s our life energy inside a bottle. If I perform a ritual on you, it will wrap around your heart and make you ours«, Liu explained and grabbed onto Lou’s leg. They squeezed it gently and smiled at him. It was neither painful nor would it kill him if he disobeyed the rules, its purpose was to prevent a blood loss since it helped with its circulation and to make him unenjoyable to other vampires.

Lou agreed.

»He’s going to make his food on his own from now on«, Taeslir demanded and got an agreement right away. Yppha, too, got an approval after he had explained he wanted Lou to treat all of them equally without picking favourites.

As it was Radeel’s – and therefore the last persons – turn, Lou turned towards him anxiously, but the vampire only smiled at him heartily.

»I just want you to obey whatever we say and mention the rule of not running away once more«, he smirked and waited for Lou’s nod – which followed shortly after. »To your punishment then? We – «

»I know what you have in mind«, Lou interrupted him and stared down to his lap where he had his hands clasped into a fist. »It’s the most widespread tale about any kind of creature.«

»There are stories about us?«, Liu wanted to know.

»More than enough to picture it even«, Lou said and felt tears already stinging the corner of his eyes. »I thought you’d do it the first time you all drank my blood, actually.«

»Get on the mattress, I want to start«, Deengar said and grabbed Lou’s arm to pull him to his feet. Taeslir asked if he could join, Lax disappeared into his room and Radeel told Lui and Yppha to bring him to his room when they were done.

»Oh«, he said just before turning on his heel. »Show him what it means to be a pet of our troupe. First impressions count.« The smirk was clearly visible even after he had turned around and walked away.

»Go on and prepare him, I want to draw some lines onto him« Deengar ordered and got rid of his clothing after he had pushed Lou down on the mattress. He grabbed the rope next to it on the floor and tied Lou’s arms up behind his back before he sat down behind him. His shirt had already been taken off and Taeslir was now working on his pants while Deengar pulled him closer towards his front.

»Wait, I – «, Lou jumped when Taeslir’s hand reached between his bare thighs to push them apart, but Deengar pulled his head backwards and hushed him. Lying on his shoulder, a sharp claw pressed to his throat – already drawing a thin line of blood – and was effective enough to keep him quiet.

»The only sound I want to hear is your pathetic whimpering«, he said and traced his claw down till he reached his collarbone – Lou’s head was safely secured onto his shoulder through the palm on his chin.

A sharp pain promptly shot through him and his jerk was held down by Taeslir’s arms on his knee and hipbone. It was also Taeslir who put them onto the fresh wound on his stomach and twisted his fingers around the fresh, warm blood before he placed them at his entrance.

He pushed inside, Deengar cut and Lou cried out.

Taeslir had started with two fingers at once, but wasn’t minding the obvious tightness at all. Lou should relax, was all he said as he thrusted in and out at a painful pace.

Deengar who had placed his claw on his abdomen now trailed his fingers upwards to his chest. The sensitive skin broke under his sharp touch and let a thin line of blood travel down the side of Lou’s body. With every touch he only seemed to tense up and whine and whimper in frustration and out of pain. Making a total of zero process in their doings, Taeslir eventually grew impatient and grabbed Lou’s cock with two of his fingers.

»Just close your eyes and breathe«, he said and began to stroke in slow motion from the base all up to the tip.

»Get used to it, for fuck’s sake. I’ll just push inside without any preparation if you don’t manage«, Deengar added and took his nipple between his fingers. The claws grasped past the skin surrounding them dangerously close wherefore Lou tried to hold in his breath, but failed as Taeslir spread his fingers apart and Deengar smeared some blood over him in circles. He moaned softly and pushed down on Taeslir’s hand desperately.

»Good pet«, they both praised him and added some strength and harshness to their movements. Lou’s mind was racing; his consciousness told him to cry and stop acting as they wished, but his body had developed a will of its own. The places their fingers were touching burned up under their strokes and Lou involuntarily reacted to it with jolts and whimpers.

»We haven’t had a human in far too long«, Taeslir mumbled while leaning forward and placing his mouth on some of the fresh cuts Deengar had left there. His hand was pressing even deeper into him in this position and Taeslir chuckled at the slight shake and moan he gained from it. »Almost forgot how warm they feel.«

»Or how sensitive they are«, Deengar added and made Lou squirm even stronger against his restraints at the touch of his cock. »Are you done?«

»No affirmation without trying out«, he smiled up at the other and pulled his fingers out as Deengar ordered him to flip Lou over.

Lou groaned as he hit the mattress face first. Unable to push himself up with his shoulders strapped back tightly, he muffled some incomprehensible words. He gasped when Deengar pulled on his hands, forcing his back to arch and face off the floor.

»I don’t want to hear any complaining, got that?«, Deengar questioned and let go off his hands as soon as an approving humming was responded.

His face hit the mattress again and he barely got time to turn his head to breathe before he noticed the hands on his hips pulling his lower body higher up. To obey Deengar’s order proved itself impossible, however, as Lou screamed a pained complaint when he hadn’t hesitated in pushing all the way in. On top, he didn’t spare in pace and roughness, turning Lou’s complaints into desperate begging.

»How about we stuff that howling mouth of yours for a bit?«, Taeslir said after he had pulled on Lou’s hair to make him glance up at him. His facial muscles tensed up in sync with the ruthless pounding from behind him. Taeslir smiled and lifted him a bit higher to pull him into his lap.

»Open up and stay like that«, he ordered and took his own cock into his hand to position it under the desired opening. Lou looked down on the hard piece for a second and felt the choke arise just by staring at it; he’d be at loss of air if he did as Taeslir wanted him to. A harsh pull on his hips combined with the sloppy noise of skin connecting with his, forced a gasp out of him and to no surprise his mouth was filled instantly.

»Stay still«, Taeslir threatened one last time and let go of the strands between his fingers. »And leave the biting up to us.«

The tip hit the back of Lou’s throat as he plumped down once again. As expected he choked and felt drops flowing from his eyes and corners of his mouth. His helpless scream merely turned into a muffled groan and resulted in gaining a moan from Taeslir and a slap on his left cheek.

»Pull him up«, Deengar ordered before he struck his hand across the other side of his ass. Air met his lungs again and a coughing, pathetic sob dropped from his lips.

»Let him breathe, don’t want him passing out with me inside«, Deengar said, before he returned to groaning with his thrusts. Taeslir grabbed the shaft of his dick again and held it in place to let Lou fall onto it again.

»My hands…please…can’t«, Lou breathed through his exhausted sobs – they made his throat ache even more, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

»What? Feeling powerless against us?«, Deengar smirked and repeated his slap again. »He’s feeling used, Tae. Pathetic.«

Lou whined when Deengar’s hand connected with his sore skin again and glanced at the other man through a blurry vision.

»It will hurt less if you just entrust yourself to me«, he offered smilingly – with a tender and apologetic voice even.

His frightened state decreased when the vampire ordered him to breathe and close his eyes. He opened his mouth and dropped to the base, but the tip left the uncomfortable place as soon as it hit it. The fingers never untangled around his strands, and when they pulled on them instead, his lips glided up around Taeslir’s dick. He was forced to move with the pace given to him, but the chosen rhythm was friendlier than the one Deengar had held up since the beginning. It allowed him to breathe and adjust to the feeling. When the tip pressed against the back of Lou’s throat once again, Taeslir groaned and threw his head into his neck.

»Tongue«, he whispered and shivered when Lou obeyed as he pulled on his hair again. Lou had noticed the slight throbbing against his tongue and pressed against it; the vampire moaned and shifted into a lower position. He was reaching to his own entrance and started fingering with Deengar’s name dripping from his lips.

»You want me to make it vibrate, huh?«, Deengar guessed and bent Lou’s pelvis downwards. When he moaned deeply in response – Taeslir was doing the same – he knew he had found the right spot. His thrust gained pace again and he felt Lou’s thighs shake against his hips. He watched Taeslir pull his cock out of Lou’s mouth staining his face instead of choking him with his cum. Lou’s moans grew more audible too and he felt him tensing around his dick. Deengar felt a deep groan form in his chest as he reached his limit in holding back, but wrapped his hand around Lou’s dick from behind quickly, before spilling inside of him.

»Did you really think I’d let you enjoy this?«, Deengar laughed and squeezed his hand around Lou, making him unable to release himself. He whined in response, but still half moaned at the feeling of the hot liquid inside him. With his remaining, slower thrusts Deengar had buried it deep inside of him. When he pulled out, Lou dropped to his side at the lack of hands holding him in place. Tears were flowing from his eyes and a painful trembling tried to claim his muscles.

»Broken already?«, Deengar asked and flopped down on the mattress next to him.

»Hurts…«, Lou responded in a whisper and pulled his legs closer to his chest.

Deengar laughed drily and mentioned, he had done something right then, before he looked over to Taeslir. He was still out of breath and hadn’t removed his fingers from his hole.

»Greedy as ever…«, Deengar sighed and pushed himself up with his hand placed on the wall to steady himself. »Up for another round while Liu and Yppha do their thing?«

Taeslir hummed needily and moved his hand inside himself again. He was lifted up by Deengar who had grabbed the hand and earned himself a whine when he had pulled it away. Liu and Yppha were called and he mumbled some slutty insults under his breath before he disappeared behind a corner with Taeslir in his arms.

Lou tried to pull on the rope around his forearms, but he couldn’t bend his hands far enough to reach the knot in them. He sobbed quietly again and rolled up into a small ball instead of struggling.

»Yppha, come on, it’s our turn«, Liu yelled from somewhere and soon appeared in Lou’s sight. They jumped onto the mattress and started undoing the strings on their corset.

»Liu?«, Lou risked to speak up and looked up at them. A quiet hum could be heard, and Lou smiled hopefully. »Could you untie me…please?«

Their fingers stopped unentangling the strings and glanced at Lou sceptically.

»Why?«, they wanted to know and raised their eyebrows innocently.

»They – It hurts…«

»Oh«, they breathed. After a quick glance to his bound hands, they looked back to the strings on their chest and went back to what they were doing. Lou lowered his head again and sighed against the mattress.

Yppha eventually plumped down and brushed Lou’s loose strands out of his face.

»Are you okay?«, he asked and inspected the cuts on his body. They varied from small, already dried ones to deeper, gaping wounds which wouldn’t heal on their own.

»As if you’d care«, Lou mumbled absentmindedly while Yppha was removing the rope from his arms. After he had sat up, he noticed the angered expression on his face and stumbled a shy apology.

»Do you think you can go easy on him, Liu?«, Yppha asked and turned to the mentioned person who had already removed their clothing except their underwear and the tight, beige bandage around their chest.

»Why? And what’s not easy?«

»Don’t lose your temper«, Yppha explained and pulled his own shirt over his head.

»But then you’d have to - «

»We’ll manage. I just think, he’s disturbed enough already«, Yppha said and went back to his clothing.

Lou had pushed his back against the wall and was watching their conversation. His curiosity to understand the spoken content was, however, smaller than his fear of asking them why he remained silent. Liu, on the other hand, whined a short approval and climbed into Lou’s lap. They locked their eyes with Lou’s for a shared breath before they leaned towards his neck.

Afraid, Lou had already sucked in his breath, but instead of the expected sharp, piercing pain his skin was met with soft, wet lips. The pair connected with his jawline and danced across his neck down to his collarbone.

»They can’t do it without physical affection first«, Yppha said after he had noticed Lou’s confused expression. He motioned to sling his arms around them and his face lighted up into an assuring smile.

Lou carefully lifted his arms and moved them towards Liu’s small back. Shaking and freezing cold – his fingers had hardly any feeling left – but when his hands connected with Liu’s skin both unpleasant aspects vanished. He was feeling calmer instantly and even pulled the vampire closer after they had slung their own arms around his neck.

The cold hand on his cheek caused his eyelids to flutter open; he was met with a happy smile.

»We can be quite charming if we’re not threatening or trying to kill you…you see?«, Yppha smiled, but Lou didn’t understand the necessity of his statement. However, since he didn’t seem to go on without a response, Lou admitted, he had noticed before. The vampire snorted quietly and planted his lips on Lou’s.

Liu had moved down to Lou’s chest, leaving enough space for Yppha to lean over them. Lou had parted his lips at Yppha’s request and had lost his short-lived fight over dominance. The hot breath on his nipple made him moan softly and he noticed Yppha smiling shortly before deepening their kiss. He enjoyed this – more than his previous session and probably more than he’d do if they went on.

Since his lost breath from before wouldn’t return, his lungs reached their limit eventually. Yppha had seemed to notice for he pulled away and worked his way down his neck instead.

Liu whined Yppha’s name softly from their position and stopped their movements. They observed the wanted person and awaited an answer impatiently.

»Go and touch yourself«, Yppha said, pushed them aside and moved on top of Lou instead. »And take the bandages off.«

Lou was still breathing heavily as he observed Liu sitting up on their knees and fumbling with the bandages around their chest. Soon Yppha’s fingers were back on his chin and forced him to look back at him. He placed his lips on his neck again and moved his free hand slowly over Lou’s cock between his legs.

»Curious or afraid – which of those is it?«, he whispered against his ear and smiled when Lou’s breathing shook against his touch.

»Neither. Just a bit confused…«, Lou admitted, closed his eyes and hissed sharply as Yppha moved his thumb over his tip.

»Let’s see…«, he hummed and sucked on the skin of Lou’s neck between his statements. »Liu can get a bit out of control if they get into their feelings too much, that’s why I’m here instead of them alone. And they don’t have a dick, mind that?«

Lou shakingly answered, he didn’t, before Yppha went on.

»What else…I thought this was going to be a lot more difficult, but you are staying up to your role…«

»It…will hurt less that way«, Lou admitted timidly and hesitated to lay his hand on Yppha’s hip.

Yppha huffed and furrowed – he had sucked on one certain part of Lou’s neck too long and harsh while he had spoken so that a small bruise was beginning to form itself – and grabbed the trembling hand to put it on his hip.

»Deengar told you that, right?«, Yppha guessed and pulled away when Lou told him the true owner of that idea. He blinked a few times before he placed his lips on the others side of his neck.

»Well, I’m not here to hurt you«, he whispered and took up the movement of his hand again. »And I’ll make sure they won’t either tonight.«

As if on command of their mention Liu whined and reached out to Yppha’s leg. They had already pushed two fingers inside of them and shivered slightly.

»Can it be the one inside?«, they asked and were pulled to their knees by Yppha who asked them for the reason.

»He’s warm…«, they breathed and stared up at him in awe.

Yppha nodded and told them to move out of the way before he asked Lou to lie down on his back. They all got into position one after another; Lou had lied down, Liu had climbed on top of him and Yppha had pulled his lower half up into his lap.

»Lean forward, Liu«, Yppha ordered and placed himself at Lou’s entrance.

Liu did as them was told and pushed down on Lou’s cock after they had bent over. As they kept pushing Lou’s own voice joined theirs and Yppha saw that as his starting signal to enter. He pushed in slowly and stopped every time Lou’s moans were interrupted by gasping. Meanwhile, Liu had started to move on their own; setting a rather fast pace, but only pushing halfway down before going up again.

»Can I bite it, Yppha?«, they asked and were seemingly out of breath. They had to stop if Lou told them to, he answered and started to thrust in slowly.

Liu bent even further down and placed a small kiss on Lou’s neck before burying their fangs into it. They sucked greedily as they usually did, but when Lou placed his hand on the back of their head, they slowed down. Instead of forcing the blood out by sucking on his skin, they pulled out a little and swallowed the small blood drops dripping from the two tiny holes.

Lou grabbed their hips – since they had slowed down their movement after they had started sucking – and pushed Liu down. They eventually removed their fangs from his neck and started to add pace again.

The other, too, had already sped up and had got closer to his climax by listening to the others’ moans. Yppha’s thrusts weren’t as deep and painful as Deengar’s had been – due to the angle and his soft pace – but they still hit right where they should have; Lou was on the edge.

»You’re so warm…and tight«, Yppha moaned before setting to a final increasement in his movements.

»Tight…feels warm, yes…his blood his warm, too…Yppha…he’s alive…«, Liu had been breathing and moaning heavily, unable to even form words, but now they choked them out one after another. They dug their nails into Lou’s chest – slowly turning them into claws. »Human…can’t…kill him…stop…dead blood…Yppha…«

Yppha yanked them upwards by their throat just as they brought out their fangs and held them down against his shoulder. They came with a deep hissing groan stuck in their throat and Yppha joined shortly after. Lou’s frightened state hadn’t stopped his orgasm to reach him and his eyelids forced themselves shut while he was aching his back and moaning nothing in particular.

He needed several breaths to calm down again – panic had arisen at the moment he had come down from his high – and could only helplessly watch as Yppha forced Liu to get off him. They were a mess and curled up next to him as soon as they hit the mattress.

»I’ll take care of them«, Yppha said and lifted Liu up into his arms. »Radeel’s in the room on the left at the far end of that corridor, don’t take too long to get there.«

He disappeared just like the other’s had before and left Lou behind.

As he sat up, the aching in his lower back announced itself through a sharp pain shooting up his spine. They had been easier on him, but taking in another round seemed impossible – he’d split in half. Adding that it was Radeel they we are talking about, only increased Lou’s uneasiness; those muscles underneath his tight trousers and his swift movements that had kept him captivated before.

He was a dead man.

Walking down the corridor Yppha had mentioned had already been enough of a challenge – his vision blurred with every other step and his eyelids were claimed by his tiredness wherefore they closed themselves whenever he didn’t pay attention to them. He felt like passing out every second from now and his face lit up with an exhausted, but happy smile, as he reached his destination.

The time passed between his knock on the door and Radeel appearing in the doorframe was less than the blink of an eye – but it couldn’t have lasted any longer. Lou dropped into Radeel’s arms and the room spun around him.

»Looks like someone has learned his lesson«, he laughed and pushed Lou away from him, still holding him by his shoulders. Lou tried to make out a face to focus on – everything was just colours, blinding, bright colours – but every blink made him see even less.

»Bath…room«, he choked out and searched his surroundings frantically, the disgusting feeling rising to his throat. He was picked up and the next time he opened his eyes and couldn’t hold back any longer, his mouth hung over a wooden bucket. Radeel plumped down next to him and turned up his nose at the solids leaving Lou’s body.

»Something I’ve surely never envied«, he admitted and leaned back onto his arms to look at the ceiling. Lou was too busy to understand or form an answer to Radeel’s remark, but something other than silence was appreciated, so he looked at him when he got time to breathe, telling him to go on.

»You’re wondering if there is something I envy about your kind?«, Radeel guessed and peeked at him from the corner of his eye. »More than I’d like to admit actually…sunlight being highest up.«

»An unexpected answer for a creature of the night«, Lou answered and spit into the bucket once more.

»Just because I’m not allowed to experience it, doesn’t mean I don’t desire to know it«, he explained and squinted at Lou again. »Are you done?«

He nodded weakly and sat down on his legs. Radeel showed him a small sink of water in a large room behind them and told him to get rid of his mess and walked off to the far end. There were some strangely coloured liquids next to the drain, but a hesitant sniff revealed a sweet odour. He cleaned out his mouth – feeling much better, although his head was still aching – and turned his head to get a look at Radeel.

»Don’t stare, get it motion«, he mumbled and crouched down even though he had his back to Lou. More stumbling than walking, Lou made his way to Radeel’s side and slid down the wall after he had tried to hold onto it for support. Lou watched exhaustedly as Radeel was running his hand through a tub halfway filled with water. A tub wasn’t exactly the right term, actually; it was an angular, huge, marble clad hole letting it seem like a bathing tub since it differed from the stone masonry of the rest of the room.

»You planned this right?«, Lou mumbled and averted his eyes when Radeel glanced at him with sparking ones.

»What do you mean?«, he smirked and poured something into the water. His voice sounded casual, but made clear, depending on Lou’s answer his angry attitude would return instantly.

»You knew I’d try to escape.«

»I assumed it, correct. I was the one who sent Liu and Treces up to your location after all«, Radeel laughed and glanced back at Lou. »But I had hoped you were smart enough to listen to me.«

Lou tried to respond with an explanation, Radeel cut him off, however, with a flick of his hand.

»I get your reasoning…I believe. But you violated the rules nevertheless, we’re not the ones bringing this upon you«, he said and pushed himself to his feet.

A weak smile played around his lips as he stared down on Lou, but he averted his gaze instead and asked him if the temperature was pleasant as it was since he didn’t have an understanding of hot or cold himself. Lou’s hand falling weakly into the water and a single nod afterwards were followed by another order to get inside.

Radeel leaned against the wall and crossed his arms while he was watching the other man removing his trousers he had loosely buckled up before and sliding into the tub. Although the warm water soothed his muscles – or was supposed to at least – his body refused to stop shaking as soon as he had got inside. He glanced up at the vampire curiously who didn’t seem to make a move anytime soon.

»What? You thought I’d get in with you?«, he laughed and threw his hand around in a wild manner, pointing at him in the end.

»Only four of you got your turn yet«, Lou whispered, embarrassed by his own phrasing, and sunk deeper into the water to let it cover his mouth.

»Speaking just as we desire already, I see«, Radeel responded – his amused smile never leaving his lips – and lowered himself to sit on the floor again. »But Laxseau won’t touch you and I have been thinking about sparing you, too.«

Lou’s eyes widened and some bubbles floated to the surface right in front of his nose. His surprised reaction wasn’t even coverable by the water surrounding him and he hated his personality for that.

»Were we that eager? How sad…«, Radeel whined dramatically and let his hand drop into the water to snip some of it onto Lou’s face. »Should’ve known since you’re this obsessed with me.«

He laughed sincerely – seeming amused – and watched the water flow around his fingers.

»In truth…it was your amulet«, Lou said and pulled his legs to his chest underneath the surface. His arms found their way around them and he had to keep himself from swaying forth and back. Radeel’s eyes travelled to the mentioned object on his hip.

»Ouch…«, he said and weighed the golden disc in his fingers. »Not me? How boring.«

»I didn’t agree to this without a reason though«, Lou mentioned and hid in the water once more when his eyes connected with Radeel’s.

»Trying to flatter me…a dangerous play, dearest pet«, he answered, his smirk turning into another laugh as Lou turned his head away from his gaze. »But if you insist.«

He began undressing himself and Lou couldn’t keep his eyes from flickering to his body every now and then. The reason for his clothing stretching and wrapping perfectly around him, displayed itself right in front of him and he just didn’t have the will to hide his curiosity any longer.

Radeel laughed something incomprehensible about his amulet while gliding into the water in front of him. Lou gave way to the other and stared at the water below his chin as Radeel placed himself next to him.

»I’m tired«, he whispered and jumped at the cold finger on his temple. His head jerked towards Radeel, letting an almost painful sting shoot through the back of his neck.

»How about we just play a little then?«

Radeel brought his lips to Lou’s exposed collarbone with an amused hum and wrapped his fingers around the free side of his neck.

»Stay still«, he ordered and pushed his fangs into the skin.

His hand caressed the spot behind Lou’s ear and entangled with some stands of hair eventually. His sucking wasn’t meant to be harsh, but the angle and the deepening of his fangs every two seconds let pain arise from the action. It grew to such an extent that Lou’s left arm began to feel numb; he acted on instant.

In one go he had slung his leg over Radeel and had sat down in his lap, without the vampire being able to react to his movement. Once he had reached his final position, however, Radeel pulled out of his skin and tilted his chin to glance at him.

»Straight up disobedience to me?«, he questioned and let his claws travel past his artery. Lou stayed silent and buried his face into the crook of Radeel’s neck instead.

They hugged each other; Lou’s arms thrown over Radeel’s shoulder whose arms wrapped around Lou’s waist. A response wasn’t forced from him, Radeel throwing his teeth into him without another word once more. Reaching deeper into him from here, Lou noticed the harshness in his sucking this time. Radeel’s sucking was intended to make him suffer till he couldn’t take it any longer. Lou’s choice to ignore and withstand the pain, however, played out to his disadvantage.

He was being choked by a strong hand when he didn’t respond after some time and Radeel hissed at him.

»Where’s all the bitchy attitude now?«

»Too exhausted…can’t you just get it over with?«

The grip on his neck increased in strength and managed to bring some emotion back into his face and eyes. Like expected to, Lou begged Radeel to stop, but his behaviour still left him unsatisfied. Harshly, Radeel pushed Lou’s legs farther apart – each being placed on either side of his hip and therefore already being in his wanted position. With a smirk on his lips, he forced Lou’s cheeks to spread and forced himself inside of him.

»Fine, let’s teach you some manners«, Radeel grunted and used his whole strength to lift and drop Lou onto his cock with a merciless pace. Lou whimpered against the man and clung onto his shoulder. The splashing water around them drowned out his audible suffering, but the other didn’t seem to care – not as long as he knew his pace was hurting him.

»Who’s the eager one now?«, Lou blurted out and sobbed shortly after as his body started trembling uncontrollably, but the harsh movement stopped abruptly and his head was yanked backwards by his hair.

»Is it mocking me?«, Radeel spat and pushed Lou off him.

Any chance of responding to Radeel was taken from him as his head was pushed underwater and a scream – turning into nothing but bubbles of air – sounded from his lungs instead. When oxygen finally reached them again, time to fill them up completely was lacking as Radeel was pushing him down again after having screamed how he dared to insult him. He struggled and tried to pull at the hand buried into his hair. After some unsuccessful dragging, Lou could feel his windpipe filling up with water instead of the needed oxygen and he reached upwards trying to get a hold of anything to defend himself.

It took several more hurtful seconds before his head was pulled out again and the grip on his head disappeared. He backed away till his back hit the end of the tub and coughed up water, desperately gasping for air.

»Repeat it«, Radeel commanded, jumped forward and dug his claws into Lou’s ribcage from underneath. As a response he merely got a cry and a weak apology; another claw found its way into Lou’s flesh. »Shut up and do what I told you.«

A fist slammed onto the hard stone wall directly next to his head and Lou whimpered pathetically. His previous statement was blurted out with a scream and the claws in his body were removed.

»Please, Radeel…I -«

»You think I agreed to keeping you because your attitude was interesting or entertaining?«, he questioned and cut Lou off by pushing him against the wall and pulling him out of the water by his throat. »Thinking I’ll hesitate to kill you because you might amuse me once more?«

He watched Lou clawing and scratching at his wrist powerlessly – his head was starting to take on a dark shade of blue. Just as Lou’s fingers trembled helplessly against his skin, he threw him into the water behind them.

Lou gasped and coughed in between sobs and put his arms over his head defencelessly when Radeel sat down beside him again. His eyes were burning, and he didn’t see Radeel’s hand stretching towards him through the tears welling in them. The unexpected touch on his forearm caused him to jerk away, therefore, and he whimpered weakly in response.

»I’m sorry…I’m sorry, please stop, I’ll do…won’t…you, not mock«, Lou stumbled over his own words while he was crying and trying to shake the hand of his forearm.

»Look at me«, Radeel ordered and let go of the arm as an activator for a reaction.

Through bloodshot eyes Lou peeked out from between his shielding and lowered his arms eventually. A hand struck him right across the face before he was pushed against the wall again the second he had done so. Another helpless cry left his lips and he tried to turn away again.

»Quiet«, was all Radeel said as he moved closer and pushed Lou’s arms above his head. He held onto them and placed his other hand on his lower body to hold him down while he began thrusting into him again.

»Please don’t kill…m-«

»I’ll do however I please«, Radeel yelled and scratched over his hip breaking the skin and drawing blood which coloured the water around them.

He groaned against him and contemplated with the idea of throwing his teeth into that soft flesh again. The body under him was shaking in fear and pain and Lou cried and sobbed heavily under his touch. He was tensing up so strongly with any movement or pain hitting him that Radeel felt his closeness building although he had only just begun. He decided to lean forward without letting out on his rhythm.

»Convince me to not split you in half right here and now«, he whispered against his ear and could be sure he had been understood because Lou’s body responded in accordance.

»I’ll…I’ll be a good pet – I’m…«

»I don’t care about that«, Radeel said and slammed into him roughly. »You insulted my pride, you better hand your entire being over to me or I’ll gladly throw you into the basement after this.«

»I…wasn’t entitled to say such a thing«, Lou started again, but was interrupted by another screamed cry as his prostate was hit painfully harsh. »I- I didn’t – I insulted you and deserve to suffer like this…please…forgive – ugh…«

A claw bored into his shoulder and cut him off by causing a scream to arise. He whimpered and tried to get away, but Radeel told him to keep going and pressed into him once more.

»I’m at you mercy…spare me. I’ll obey your – ah – command…every command – and won’t try to take ah-advantage of your kindness…anymore.«

Radeel buried his teeth into Lou’s neck as he came and kept his thrust up as best as he could until they eventually turned sloppy and lazy. When he stopped moving and tried to pull out, Lou’s body went limb around him and slumped down. He groaned and pulled out of him.

Lou looked almost dead – hadn’t it been for the weak rising and sinking of his chest – then Radeel would have declared him as such even. He sighed and fell back into the water. He needed to clean his and the others’ mess up before getting them out of here.

After he had washed, lifted and dressed Lou up all neatly again, he stemmed his hands onto his hips; he’d need to get him somewhere else. If he didn’t get to rest, he’d probably truly die on him. When Radeel’s decision had been made, his unused bed was chosen to be his destination as he carried Lou out of the bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick Note: I've never written a nonbinary character before. If I've done anything wrong or used something inappropiate; please let me know and I'll change it. See ya xD


	3. Chapter 3

Although Lou’s eyes fluttered open, he couldn’t tell if he were awake for the room was pitch black and indistinguishable from what he saw with closed ones. However, the pain arising in his spine and lower back when he tried to shift to the side told him his current state of mind – even lower than that a sore feeling overtook him, but he tried to not get his mind hooked on that.

His soft groan must’ve been louder – or simply the only audible noise in the room – than he had appreciated for it to be because a creaking noise of feet dragging across the floor arose from it. The swift silhouette moved gracefully to the side of the bed, but Lou’s senses were neither fully in shape right now nor had they any time to possibly adjust before the weigh was dropped onto the mattress next to him. In fear, he jumped backwards, pulling the blanket around his body with him.

A clanking sound of two metals falling onto each other chimed through the room and it was enveloped in dim, unsteady light of some candles. They were all lit at the same time although each of them was placed on a different furniture in the room. Their flames flickered heavily under Lou’s stare; his balance reacting accordingly to that by forcing him to fall onto the mattress again. He had intended to close his eyes again, but the presence which was still unknown to him grabbed his attention and they shot back up.

»You’ve merely been asleep for four hours, you shouldn’t force them to stay open«, Radeel mumbled and placed the small, silver lantern on the nightstand. He had used it to make their faces appear more vivid. When he had noticed the compulsive blinking and the shaking arms Lou had tried to use to sit back up again, he had decided to reach to him, however. Lou jerked away once more and whimpered weakly as he was greeted with aching in his muscles.

Radeel sighed and stood up to get to his desk. A big cup found its way into his hands and he returned to his seat, holding it out to Lou.

»For your throat…«, he mumbled as the only reaction he got was timid staring and another miserable attempt at pushing himself away. »And Yppha threw something in there. He said it would help with your pain.«

He eventually grabbed Lou’s wrist and pushed the cup into the palm of his hand – he also didn’t hesitate in grabbing him by the waist to pull him into a sitting position. The pottery rested safely in his lap and he thanked Radeel shyly after he had brought it to his lips and swallowed its content once.

»Do you want something else?«, Radeel asked and sat down onto his leg to face Lou. He shook his head and sipped at the cup again. His gaze was directed onto one of the candles – their shining flame reflecting in his widened pupils – but their seemed to be no spark left in them. They matched the exhausted impression the dark bags underneath them gave off.

»Do you want me to heat up some water. You could relax your – «

Lou threw his head sideways in a violent way this time and cut Radeel off by that action. His eyes wandered towards the cup in his hands with his head hanging low.

The vampire mumbled, he should get some more sleep then and threw his feet over the edge of the bed. While he was reaching towards the lantern, Lou teared his trembling hand away from the cup and placed it on Radeel’s arm. A quick glance over his shoulder was the response and the grip on his hand tightened slightly.

»Could you stay…maybe?«, Lou asked and kept his eyes fixed on the arm he had in his power. »And don’t blow out the candles please.«

The handle dropped onto the lid with a shrill clink and Radeel pulled his legs back onto the bed and pushed himself up to lean against the bedpost. He put one leg over the other, turned his head and looked at Lou sceptically.

»What am I supposed to do now?«, he said and grabbed the cup which had already been emptied from the shaking hands.

Lou fell down on the mattress – more with a plump than the graceful move he had intended to – and buried his face into the soft pillows. There were so many of them, all placed neatly on spot next to each other despite their expendability.

»Just…stay«, he answered and pulled the huge sheets and futons up to his chin. »Till…I’m asleep.«

He closed his eyes. The shaking up his spine, however, kept him from relaxing; his spine felt chillingly cold and his legs weren’t sparing him with any unwanted movement. He sighed quietly to himself and curled his fingers into the pieces of blankets they could reach. The breathing he had meant to steady, was interrupted by a careful touch on his head. His eyes didn’t dare to look up wherefore he decided to concentrate on the rhythm of his breaths again.

»You did well, you know…«, Radeel whispered and ran two of his fingers over Lou’s hairline. Soothingly, they entangled themselves with some strands before they curled them up around them. »Hardly any complaining, the others told me – except Deengar, but I reckon he doesn’t have a say in this.«

His hair slowly slid down Radeel’s finger after he had pulled them upwards carefully and come to the point where their length reached its limit. Nails tenderly scratched over his scalp and Lou’s eyelids gained weigh eventually.

»Shouldn’t have gone that hard on you probably…«, Radeel breathed while he was drawing small circles behind Lou’s ear whose own fingers brushed against Radeel’s thigh once before they rested at the very bottom of it.

His eyes had closed, his breathing had steadied; drifting off into his welcomed rest – calmly, this time.

His head felt better when he rose from the bed again. On shaking legs and a persistent ache throbbing in expected positions, Lou stumbled to the door. He had to grab onto every furniture he passed – sighing and slowing down his breathing before moving on – and sighed happily as his hand finally connected with the doorknob. Most candles in Radeel’s room had gone out a few hours ago, leaving the room inside rather dark and sinister; the corridor – on the other hand – welcomed him with shiningly bright, new ones. He got used to the cruel companion sticking to his lower back after he had taken several steps towards the main hall and his hand glided off the wall and he limped forwards.

The huge room he eventually arrived in felt empty; Lax being the only one present – reading on his usual spot, in his usual position (the book was different, Lou reckoned). He didn’t turn his attention on him while Lou was plodding to the small kitchen at the far back right corner. They had shown him where to prepare his food on the third or fourth day after his arrival – even though he didn’t have to cook for himself. Yppha and Taeslir had admirably good skills in preparing food and had provided him with it, however, since one of them was the one to issue the new rule, he’d figured to better not ask for it again.

Lou didn’t actually feel like eating a lot, or anything at all, but he knew he’d feel better if he did. He settled for some bread and searched for some other ingredients (he found some ham and herbs which he didn’t know and therefore didn’t touch). He headed for the table once he had prepared everything. They’d never specifically allowed him to eat at the table, but the opposite hadn’t happened either and there weren’t any complaints when he was sitting at it, so he concluded they didn’t mind.

He sat down and took a couple of bites before he glanced at Lax.

»Can I ask you something?«, he piped up and clenched his hand around his plate once the addressed person had cocked his head. If he made it quick he’d let him, Lax answered and looked back at his book. He pressed his thumb on a certain, chosen spot and put it down into his lap.

»Why didn’t you…uhm, take part in…«

»Your punishment?«, Lax said and emphasized his guess with a sceptically raised eyebrow. He sighed and picked up his book again after Lou had nodded. »Don’t want to.«

»At all?«, Lou asked and took another bite as he listened to Lax affirming his question. The words for his next question were already at the tip of his tongue, but a loud bump of Lax’ book being violently closed made him swallow them.

»I’d like to read«, he claimed and opened his book again, not saying another word.

Lou had put away his plate and was now searching for his usual spot to waste his time on; only for it to be found missing. He didn’t dare to ask Lax anything once more, but with his mattress missing he didn’t know any other place he could rest on. The chair just previously used was an option of course, his back, however, had already suffered enough by walking there; he didn’t want to strain it anymore. And being to his disliking, the floor wasn’t an option either.

There was another small couch placed at a right angle to the one Lax was lying on and Lou limped towards it. Unsure, he waited next to it until he noticed Lax’ eyes on him and he turned to face him. Lou perceived his small reaction – a single glance to the free couch and then back to Lou before returning to his book – as an approvement and let himself fall down on the plush upholstery.

That unpleasant bang of a noise echoed from the wall again and Lou caught himself staring at Lax from his seat. He hadn’t noticed and could not tell its duration therefore, but it must’ve been uncomfortable since the other reacted.

»Can you read through these?«, Lax suddenly smiled – although it seemed very much acted and fake in Lou’s eyes – and leaned down to reach for something under the small wooden table. His hands reappeared with some tiny pieces of paper in them and held them towards Lou. »And tell me what you think of them.«

Lou took a hold of the sheets and carefully placed them in his lap. They seemed to be well-ordered and were held together by some plain cotton string. Lax told him, he’d need his honest opinion before letting him in on their secret. He didn’t answer his question as to why he thought Lou’d be a qualified inspector of them either. It would alter his understanding of them.

He untied them and his gaze hovered over the handwritten letters with eagerness: 

There once was a boy with a mission;

He was the chosen one for exploration.

Eager and brave, his time had come.

His only, true goal had been to look for a fruit

Being the same magical fruit as in a long-forgotten tale.

It has brought live to the dead, as its rightful role:

Leader, of the seventh abyss and ruler of its kingdom.

Harm had been brought upon its enemies.

But no worries plagued the boy, for his

Young and incomplete self would never count

An enemy; in thesis at least.

But he was prepared, would gladly die even,

His faith was destined as a small human, but:

Strong and brave as he was, he was accepted.

(The last sheet of paper merely had a huge V written on it)

Lax had been waiting for Lou’s answer patiently. With his book out of hand – he had placed it on the free spot next to him – his fingers fumbled nervously around his knee. When Lou looked up from the papers and into his eyes, Lax’ eyes twitched hectically, almost shaking in unison with his breathing.

»I – uhm…it sounds quite interesting«, Lou admitted and placed them neatly one over another again. He had wanted to question the purpose of them, but Lax was preoccupied falling back against the rest of the couch. A heavy sigh dropped from his lips and he almost laughed relievedly as he ran a hand through his hair.

»If you like it, they’ll suffice«, Lax mentioned and reached for his book again. Lou stumbled his question in the meantime and watched as Lax sat back against the arm rest, holding his book above his head again.

»Their purpose?«, he repeated and glanced at them from the corner of his eye. »There’s a wealthy town in the far East, an old man provides us with supplies – humans mostly – every now and then. In return, I have to send small poems or stories for a little girl he’s taking care of. She loves reading tales and true mysteries. It’s an easy contract, we managed to hold up for some time by now, but lately she’s been dissatisfied.«

»Why don’t you just take over the town forcefully?«, Lou wanted to know and shifted uncomfortably in his seat again; Lax’ had taken his eyes of his book once more.

»Less slaughter means less fallen vampires and especially large towns are developing increasingly fast«, he answered and placed himself in his previous position. He flipped a page and threw his leg over the other. »If you don’t know what to do, grab a book from under the table or sleep. But don’t bother or stare at me any longer.«

Lou put the packed sheets onto the table before he reached under it and pulled out a tiny book. Its edges were torn apart and it seemed neglected; light weighed and lost as it was in the palm of his hand. He pushed himself back up and sat down again and started reading.

The content wasn’t much to his liking; it sounded incomplete in his mind and the depicted topic wasn’t to be specified. Still, he read on for a while and eventually grew addicted to the story. There was no title or any other affiliation to a series or author, the book’s characters were plain and acted unreasonably and the storytelling didn’t get any more comprehensive, but he just couldn’t get his hand to put it down. Somehow the way those words re-echoed in his mind managed to spark his interest. He kept on reading; the words flowing together, forming waves of sentences and turned out to be nothing but a chaotic, unresolved flow in the end. Hours faded away, spent in ingulfing himself into the book, and rushed past Lou in the blink of an eye.

The well-known creak of a certain door drew his attention away from the pages eventually and he peeked over the rest. Liu had followed Radeel inside and shut the door behind them. When they spotted Lou on the couch, their eyes and expressions brightened up.

»Lou!«, they yelled and threw themselves over the rest next to him. With their torso and hands hanging off the furniture they seemed more exhausted than excited like the range of their exclamation had given off. »Can you catch some sunlight for me?«

They bent their upper body and head (it looked unhealthy and painful for a position to stay in). A smile was expectantly plastered on their face which faded as Lou stared at them with a disturbed expression. Liu sighed defeatedly and got off the couch with a grunt.

»How did you even come up with such an idea?«, Lax asked in annoyance and marked a certain part of his page again.

»They’ve been forcing that topic on me since the sun had begun to rise outside…« Radeel complained and fell onto the couch next to Lax. He rested his cheek onto his hand and observed Liu gaining pace in their hyperactive movements again.

»But if I could just store it in some type of glass, I’d be able to examine it«, Liu responded and caused Radeel to sigh again. They’d still get hurt by it, Lax concluded and leaned forward to rest his arms on his thighs. Radeel briefly got to mentioned, he had told them so multiple times already, but their attitude hadn’t changed, before Liu piped up again.

»I’ll use it and find new spells and rituals, you both just watch«, they pouted and flopped down next to Lou with crossed arms.

»Speaking of rituals;«, Lax said, repeated his usual combination of movements and buried his nose into the book again. »Don’t you got one to do?«

Liu jolted out of their angered state and grabbed onto Lou’s arm. A gentle – but hectic – pressure was exerted on it and Liu brought their rule back to Lou’s mind.

»Are you feeling better?«, Radeel wanted to know and interrupted Liu from basically pulling Lou to their room already. A silent nod served as an answer and Liu explained defyingly, they’d not hurt him in their proceedings. Radeel still warned him – which could hardly have been received by the aflutter vampire – while they were pulling Lou towards their room.

They walked around the corner Lou hadn’t got a look behind yet and Liu very much pushed him into the first and only room to the left. There was a staircase leading upwards in the right corner of the short, but broad hallway and another door just next to the first step.

Liu’s room was much smaller than Radeel’s – or the stuffed shelves, overfilled cupboards and massive bookshelves which took away most of the space of the room made it seem like it. There was another narrow door leading to some unknown other room though.

Overall, Lou’s impression was one thing: messy. Although on a shelf, the books – varying heavily in age, size and condition – were nothing even nearly organised; some lied on top of one another, others were placed in a decent place, but either flipped upside down or standing with their back to the wall. On the cupboards a diversity of items could be found; most of which Lou had never seen before. But he did make out some pencils, papers, lamps and a reddish, thick liquid that reminded him very much of something he knew.

»I’ll get what I need!«, Liu exclaimed happily and was ready to hop towards one of the shelves, but stopped just before they had turned on their heel. They placed their hands on Lou’s shoulders and pushed him all the way down till he was sitting on the floor. »You wait here.«

In a few second they had already gathered their desired or needed items. There weren’t many items Liu had grabbed from various places in their room; a tiny blade with a wooden handle, an even smaller bottle with some clear liquid inside and the rather big vial that had been mentioned before.

»Can…can you tell me what you’re going to do exactly?«, Lou questioned while Liu was placing the items around them and outside of a faded circle Lou was sitting in. He hadn’t noticed the symbol carved and painted into the stone at first, but at further inspection of his surroundings the small circle – barely fitting two people inside – came to his notice. A star was displayed in the middle of it and every other spot that would’ve been empty if it had just been those two ornaments was filled with several, tiny letters and swirls of symbols.

»Okay, well…I – I’ll smear this oil onto the spot directly over your heart because I have to pierce through your skin once and it will hurt and infect less likely with that.« They showed him the tiny bottle and wiggled it around slowly to make the oil inside visible. »Then…you’ll have to be in a trance, so half asleep basically. I’ll draw blood from your arms because the circle underneath you needs to be filled with it and then I’ll insert the life energy stored in this vial.« Again they held up every object they were referring to at the specific time before they placed everything back into place.

Lou looked and commented on his uneasiness and fear regarding what Liu had just said, but they assured him, nothing were to be afraid of.

»I take my rituals more serious than anything, you’ll be safe«, they added and lubricated the blade with a bit of the oil from the bottle and a small handkerchief.

Lou was ordered to take his shirt off, and his trembling hands obeyed although he himself hadn’t quite agreed for this to start just yet. He hissed briefly as the oil touched his skin and felt chillier than he had expected.

»You’ve got to trust me, Lou«, Liu mumbled and pressed their thumb against Lou’s chin. Carefully, they tilted his head to each side once and inspected the purple to green marks on his neck. Their eyes also wandered downwards to his chest and eventually connected with Lou’s whose stared at them. He hadn’t quite paid attention to Liu’s examination of his body, the name dripping of their lips had caught him off guard and had sent him into a distant, calmer state of mind already.

»I won’t hurt you, I promise, okay?«, Liu assured him once more and smiled heartily when they got a small nod as a response. They pulled him closer and started to draw small circles around his shoulder blade.

»You can breathe however you’d like, just relax and focus on me«, Liu whispered into Lou’s ear and increased the pressure on their imaginary circles.

A second finger found its way onto Lou’s skin after some more circles and added another one. Liu was letting them slide across his skin in a monotonous pace although they weren’t drawing the same circle. When Liu pulled him closer one final time and Lou finally rested his chin on their shoulder, Liu stroked their fingers down to his waist and lifted them from his body.

»I’ll count to three, on three you’ll close your eyes for me«, they breathed and placed one finger on his waist shortly after, saying the first number. With the other two following numbers they added one finger each and rambled very fast, but soothingly about Lou’s tiredness and heavy eyelids. On the count of three and the feeling of a third finger connecting with his skin, Lou’s eyelids fell down and his muscles relaxed against Liu’s small body.

»Pet~ «, Liu chimed and repeated their movements of their fingers. Lou’s body sank deeper into the touch and closer into Liu’s arms – his eyes opening and closing at Liu’s will.

The fingertips were still dancing across Lou’s lower back; up and down they went, all staying still until the third one landed precisely next to the others. They told Lou to relax even further, to listen to the mere sound of their voice and to notice the feeling of their touch spreading through his muscles. Up and down and sideways from the little part of skin they lay upon, his muscles should sense the comforting warmth travelling through his body.

Liu stayed to that rhythm for a while – growing faster in his tapping every time they reached a complete set of three fingers on Lou’s back. When their voice eventually drowned out, Lou’s perception couldn’t take up the lack; his mind dazzled and blank if he had tried to think back to the current situation later on.

»At the moment I do this…«, Liu said and tapped onto Lou’s back with all tips of their fingers at the same time while they were explaining their doings verbally to the other. »…I want you to say my name, you can remember it, right? I want it to be the only thing your mind pays attention to.«

The command took place a few breaths later and the desired content flowed from Lou’s mouth – over and over again as Liu’s fingers connected with his back repeatedly.

»Good, good…«, they praised and removed their hand from Lou’s skin with a tender stroke before taking a hold of the tiny blade to their right. Their other hand steadied Lou’s body which would’ve fell to the side due to his lacking control over it.

»My names still in your head, isn’t it?«, Liu asked and pressed their triggering fingers with the blade secured against their palm – by the remaining ones – onto Lou’s waist once more. The same reaction as previously followed, and Liu smiled. He should keep his mind occupied with holding onto it, Liu ordered and positioned the sharp, metallic tip on Lou’s forearm. They pressed down, drew blood and repeated the motion on the other one.

»Hold onto that hotness you’re feeling right now«, Liu said and pulled the limp body closer to their chest to keep Lou’s hands from leaving the marked circle.

The fingers went back to lying themselves onto Lou’s skin one after another again as Liu attentively observed the pale, grey lines around them filling up with a deep red. They let him say their name every now and then. When the red was the only colour painting the symbols around them, Liu poured the left oil of the bottle over Lou’s arms and pushed him slightly away from them.

»Will you submit to us, Lou?«, Liu breathed.

They were staring into Lou’s eyes; although the other couldn’t focus. His pupils grew and shrank involuntarily rapidly, leaving him unable to focus let alone make out anything. The gentle touch of Liu’s fingers cupping his cheek – three of them in amount – however, was noticed and Liu repeated their question once more, combined with an order to agree with them. 

Lou obeyed – again, probably blank of any sensible thoughts if he had been asked about it later on – he answered every of Liu’s following questions in approval. He agreed on making his blood theirs – free to use, free to drink, free to spill – and he gave his final consent to become their pet.

»This will sting a little…«, Liu said before they placed the sharp, needle-like tip of the vial over Lou’s heart. A short, but painful – well remembered even long after this – freezing befall Lou’s chest and he gasped and almost jolted abruptly. The familiar, calming touch he was accompanied with, however, let his trance return to his mind and he plumped down on Liu’s shoulder again. The sparks as well as the lively flowing waves sunk into the small opening Liu had created – they were twirling and varied in colour or were complete white and black.

Lou felt a soft push on his chest and opened his eyes at the command of it.

»Awaken~ «, Liu whispered and strongly pushed away the body against them this time.

Both landed on the floor behind them – outside of the smeared circle they had been sitting in earlier. Lou breathed and glanced dumbfoundedly and surprisedly, Liu smiling down on him from atop. He questioned their situation in panic and confusion, jumping and sitting up when Liu pressed their finger against his lips.

»You’ll only be plagued with a headache«, Liu told him and slung their arms over Lou shoulders. »Leave the cloudiness up there alone for a bit, it won’t hurt you.«

»Why can’t I remember any pain..«, Lou mumbled and glanced at Liu who then stared at him in disbelief. He brought his own finger to his lips and shakingly pushed against them; his gaze wandering off to the floor behind them.

»It didn’t trust me after all«, Liu whined.

»Can you stop calling me that?«

»But…but pets aren’t – «

»Please, it…hurts«, Lou basically begged and put his hand on top of Liu’s. They looked down on it for a second before smilingly locking their eyes again. This time it was them stating their approval while they were standing up. Lou did the same – although his taken time and used energy were far more than the ones Liu had needed.

»I’ll take care of your bruises, wait for a moment«, Liu said and added, Lou could sit down on the bed after he had expressed his confusion. He did as he had been ordered and watched Liu crushing, mixing and stirring several herbs, liquids and powders. The names he got told after he had asked Liu for the ingredients of the emerging salve were either unknown or unintelligible terms he’d remember at no chance.

When the product was finished eventually, Liu carried the bowl with them and sat down next to Lou. They told him to stay still; the cream would burn and sting for a second, but within the same amount of time it would be soaked into his skin. Starting at the neck, Liu applied the smeary paste and told Lou to talk about anything he’d like when he backed away as soon as their hand had made contact with his skin. Instead of doing so, Lou asked for the reason.

»I talk when I take care of my wounds«, they responded and dunk their hand into the bowl again, drawing a big chunk of the cream from it. Lou hesitantly stumbled, he didn’t know any topics, but Liu’s answer remained the same; he should think of something he liked.

»I…was working at a tavern, back at my village…I mean«, Lou mumbled quietly and gasped at the touch of Liu’s hand once more. »I had to take care of the owner’s dog the whole day…he did however he liked though.«

»I don’t like dogs«, Liu said and titled Lou’s chin upwards. »They smell awful and I can’t perform any rituals with them.«

They let go of his head and bend down to stroke over the fairly healed gash over his ribcage and stomach. Another line of the stinging paste was smeared onto those two spots and Lou went on instead of hissing in pain.

»I don’t mind them usually…but that dog was a beast. Tormenting customers and never staying at his assigned spot«, he complained. Liu had finished finding most of the cuts and bruises on his torso and was inspecting every side once more to search for any overlooked ones.

»That wasn’t much something you like, hm?«, Liu mentioned and added some more of the paste on the deeper wounds.

»I still liked working there…I think.«

Silence grew between them as Liu worked on another bruise they had found, but they didn’t press Lou into talking anymore.

»Do you have anything else on your mind except rituals and blood?«, Lou asked and regretted his choice of phrasing the second he had spoken his question. Liu placed the empty bowl on a small table at the side of the bed before they looked at Lou.

»Mice«, they answered, unbothered by the question and almost too casual for their usual excitement over topics they were passionate about. Their eyes lit up and the corner of their mouth shot upwards the next instant, however. A typical expression resting on their face once more. »And you of course, pets are always on my mind.«

They got ready to get up again, but the insecure brush of Lou’s fingers against their arm let them stop. Liu watched as Lou’s fingers wrapped around their wrist – even though his movements were careful and hesitant everything else told Liu the strong urge behind them. His eyes, fixed on the grabbed spot; his chest, rising frantically in need of pumping air into him; and his boiling warmth spreading from the hand wrapped around Liu. Desperate and wanting, his whole body screamed for Liu to stay close to him.

»Aww, don’t look like that«, Liu said and sat down into Lou’s lap; his uncontrolled urges had vanished abruptly and a confused look adorned his features instead. »You’re reaction is normal.«

Lou wasn’t reassured by that statement; his hands still moved around Liu’s waist on their own and he shook his hand violently at the notice of it. It were his blood, Liu explained and forced Lou to look them in the eyes. He had sworn himself to them all; his senses and unconsciousness were merely an offering of his being to them.

»That wasn’t included in your explanation«, Lou said and reminded his muscles to let go of Liu’s arms on his shoulders once more.

»Why do you think your blood is willing to circulate faster?«, Liu asked and pulled Lou closer to whisper in his ear. »Don’t worry your complete loss of control over your body only happens right after the ritual…these feelings will fade away with time.«

The touch on his shoulder blades and the quiet breath against his ear shell cut any strings that still connected Lou’s mind to his actions; he pressed his lips onto the neck presented to him. Liu moaned softly in response and curled their fingers into Lou’s hair. Their amused noises and expression disappeared, however, when Lou picked them up and threw them onto the mattress behind them.

»Easy there…«, they warned and stemmed their arms against Lou’s shoulder, hindering him from leaning over them. »Didn’t think I had to tame you.«

Lou whined dissatisfied when he was the one ending up with his back on the mattress instead. The order to take of his trousers was obeyed, nevertheless. He watched Liu doing the same – stripping down, only leaving the bandages around their chest wrapped around them.

Liu sat on top of Lou’s thighs and was scratching over the chest in front of them carefully. Whenever they reached up to Lou’s sensitive area, they curled around his nipples for a moment before scratching down to his stomach again. They eventually intended to lean forward and brush their lips across Lou’s body, but the other pushed himself up to sit. Before they had the chance to react to his movement, Lou stuck his hand between their legs and pressed his thumb between Liu’s lips. They gasped audibly and lowered their hips to add the pressure on their clit.

»Lou…«, they whined – pleaded almost – when the mentioned person didn’t move in the slightest. Their shaken breath caused Lou’s body to set into motion – he planted several small, wet kisses onto Liu’s neck and slid his fingers barely inside before removing them again.

Liu moved in unison with his small strokes as they pulled on Lou’s head to bring him closer to them. There was barely any force in their movements, but they fulfilled its purpose of pushing Lou’s fingers deeper inside of them. His name left their lips again – less asking in their voice as it was accompanied with a warning undertone – and Lou pushed his finger into them.

Their greediness didn’t ease in the slightest, they ordered to use another one even, and they shifted them both against the wall. Lou’s back was resting against it when he twirled two fingers inside Liu; stronger and faster as they had wanted. They both kept up their actions – Liu thrusting against the body parts inside them – for a while. Lou, too, felt his arousal arising with Liu’s moans and gasps temptingly close to him.

Eventually, Liu pulled themself up and held Lou’s hand down to get rid of his fingers filling them. They grabbed the cock underneath them and positioned themself on top of it, dropping down on it the next instant.

Clawing at their back, Lou groaned, letting Liu move on their own. Their little eagerness last time was nothing compared to the one they felt now – expressed through their rough riding and rushed pace. A pace that carried them right to a lack of air as their exhaustion finally hit in, but that didn’t prevent them from keeping it up.

Lou who noticed their jumps getting sloppier hence wasn’t taken by surprise when he noticed Liu clenching around him and reaching their climax. They bit down on his neck, but didn’t draw any blood for them to suck. Instead, they just groaned against Lou’s skin and tried to keep up with their thrusts as best as possible.

The missing resistance after they’d gained control over their drive, allowed Lou to pick them up and throw them onto the mattress. Liu whimpered at the loss of Lou’s dick inside of them, but slung their arms around him as soon as he had leaned over them. Some words telling Lou to keep going seeped through their moans as he pushed inside again – and their order was gladly followed.

His hands were placed each next to Liu’s head while he was thrusting into them with as much strength as he could gather. Although his limbs hurt slightly from the strain he was putting on them, for the first time fucking with someone felt enjoyable and painless again – or as painless as his joints and muscles let it appear.

Glad, his limit due to exhaustion and the rising of his orgasm meet him at the same time, Lou slammed forward some last times. Liu responded with a moan and pulled him down to cut a thin slit into his collarbone, sipping at the blood dropping from it.

»Good…pet«, Liu praised him in between his lazy slurps and groaned as they send Lou over the edge with their statement; his cum filling them up, leading to another orgasm of themself. They licked on the cut a few more times before Lou flopped down next to them and curled up into the messed sheets.

Liu stared at the ceiling for a few more steadying breaths and slipped under the covers, too, eventually. A soft sigh left their lungs as they turned to their side and pressed their face against Lou’s chest.

»Good pet…«, Liu whispered sleepily and pulled their fist up to their cheek. Lou watched them drift off and felt them relax against his body.

He put his arm around their shoulder after one short moment of hesitation; not closing his eyes just yet – he wanted to process the happenings – but eventually joined Liu into another dimension.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Share some thoughts...maybe? ///


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!TW: Panic Attack!!!

Lou’s new situation began to feel like normality; he grew used to the vampires surrounding him every day and felt accustomed in his role. (He called it role himself because every other term would have blown out the little flame of pride still left in his heart.) Playing his role as if studied by heart, the days passed by easier and less hurtful – even if their duration didn’t lessen at all. The atmosphere had been decreasingly less tense since Liu’s ritual, leading to Lou having more time on his own. This time away from them was enjoyed, but the lack of social interaction and activities to go after drowned Lou in boredom.

They hadn’t touched him for three days; Yppha and Lax were the only ones to suck his blood in the past days before they both left. They hadn’t returned yet and Lou hadn’t found the courage to talk to anyone else except Yppha.

However, when Lou had feared for the sticky air surrounding him to overwhelm his ability to breathe this morning, he had decided to try his luck. He had knocked on Liu’s door. They had locked themselves up in their room for multiple hours by now and he felt curiosity arising at the same time as doubt and good sense tried to overtake his mind. Neither of those feelings were satisfied in the end; Lou had brought up the courage to knock, but only gained silence from the other side.

Radeel had told him not to disturb him as he had disappeared to his room in the early hours of the day; he wouldn’t disobey him. The others weren’t much to his benefit either; Taeslir was leaning over some spread out papers on the table – busy and occupied as he seemed, Lou didn’t dare interacting with him. Although, Lou reckoned, he wasn’t the type to violently tell him off. He hadn’t spoken to him that much to be absolutely convinced of that assumption though.

And Deengar – well – no.

Lou settled for cleaning and rearranging the kitchen. Last night he had left it a mess and he often searched for wanted utensils longer than necessary if he just put them somewhere known once and for all. The kitchen wasn’t all that huge anyway – in fact, Lou had even wondered why they possessed one to begin with – but still it outdated his past one by every extent. Lou worked his way through the cupboards from the bottom up and placed everything neatly and organised in places he’d remember.

The work lasted shorter than he had planned for and he found himself at the loss of activities once more. Looking around the room, there weren’t any other tasks he could put his hands and mind to. He had thought about cleaning once, but except for the kitchen – being his property to take care of – they kept the rooms clean themselves. Books had come to his mind, but the few ones he had found under the table didn’t spark his interest and reading in general was something he’d grew sick of if he didn’t do anything else.

»Will you stop running up and down like a wild chicken?«, Taeslir yelled and spun around on his chair. Lou froze and stared at him – the noise had surprised him although it wasn’t extremely loudly or aggressively said. Taeslir’s statement was harsh nevertheless and Lou stumbled a quick apology when his annoyed glare rested on him.

»Can I help?«, Lou blurted out and sprinted over to the table. Taeslir’s eyes came to stare at Lou once more. Shyly, he added a plea to his question and looked down on the floor.

»That falls under your request, doesn’t it?«, Taeslir sighed and placed the pen in his fingers between his teeth. Lou nodded quietly and smiled when Taeslir said he’d search for something.

After Liu had sent him out of their room the other day, Lou had remembered his request in return for obeying their rules and had sought out Radeel. His formed request had been to treat him humanly; Radeel had raised an eyebrow to that. He didn’t want them to neglect him, Lou had explained. He couldn’t be left on his own and locked up inside the whole day without slowly slipping into insanity, wherefore he had asked them to try and not push him away if he asked for their attention or anything else. Radeel – after he’d got the others approval – had agreed to it, but reminded him, it didn’t have the same value as a rule. Therefore, they didn’t necessarily need to follow it at all times.

Some – like Taeslir and Yppha – took his request to heart and hadn’t refused him so far. Naturally, there were was the complete opposite represented just as well.

»Here«, Taeslir said eventually and shoved a few papers to Lou who had sat down across from him. »Compare this main list.« He pointed to the largest paper with the smallest names written on it. »With these smaller ones.« His finger landed on a stack of square papers. »If there’s something different on any of them, write their number and missing part down on a different sheet.«

Lou watched him dedicating his attention to his own doings again before he picked up a pencil and did as he was told. The huge sheet of paper was categorized into several troupes and stations. Names were written under each of them in neat, but tiny handwriting with a letter and number right next to them. On the smaller pieces he found Taeslir’s handwriting; the letter standing right on top of the sheet with numbers in descending order and names next to it. After some further inspection Lou noticed the system they were following and started to compare the two lists.

His fingers slid over the papers – carefully not to smudge any of the writing – and he worked his way down the long list. Surely, there was some faster way to work the names of the list than starting at the top and searching for each name among the corresponding paper, but with the names getting less Lou got used to the rhythm of searching and found them faster – his technique being wrong didn’t matter, therefore.

After some time – certainly a couple of hours had past – Lou reached the bottom of the sheet and leaned back in his seat. Taeslir looked up at him when he excused himself and stood up. He got a hold of Lou’s scribbled notes while the other was walking towards the kitchen.

»You actually found some?«, Taeslir questioned frowning upon the paper in his hand. The moment Lou returned with a glass of water in his hand, he had already begun to check on the truthfulness of them.

»I couldn’t find these two anywhere «, Lou answered and pointed to the mentioned names. »And with these other two I think the order is wrong.«

Taeslir checked on each of the names Lou had written down and rubbed his eyes and temples when he couldn’t find them either. I didn’t think he’d mess them up this bad, he admitted and pulled the needed sheets towards him. He placed them next to his other papers to work on them later.

»There were surely a hundred names on that list, why would feel bad for three small mistakes?«, Lou asked and took a sip of his water again. The vampire glanced at him in response – a small smile played around his lips if Lou’s eyes didn’t betray him.

»One hundred and thirty-seven, actually«, Taeslir corrected him and looked at the list to his right explaining, even the smallest mistake was still one.

»Well, nothing happened right? Nobody noticed your mistakes.«

»Because pets don’t count?«

»No, because the pet won’t tell anyone«, Lou smiled and gained the same facial expression in response – clearly visible this time. Taeslir attempted to say something once more, but a deep growl from upstairs attracted both their attention. The next second heavy footsteps sounded from the staircase and Deengar eventually appeared in the room. He rushed over to them and yelled something about a dagger.

»Which one?«, Taeslir asked and told him to calm down at the same time.

»As if I could, when I can’t find it anywhere«, Deengar answered and described the dagger to be the one with the black handle and blade which he had used yesterday. Taeslir shrugged and explained he hadn’t seen it; it wasn’t on the table when he had come down. With brutal force Deengar slammed his hands on the table and caused Lou to jump in his seat.

»I…I saw Liu running off with a black blade into their room earlier«, Lou murmured quietly and looked at Taeslir while speaking instead of the other.

With a screamed insult ringing through the room, Deengar ordered Liu to come out of their room and rushed into their direction. Noisy bangs of his fists connecting with their door soon replaced his angered yells and echoed through the hallway and the other rooms.

»What happened?«, a voice suddenly appeared at the other side of the room. A sigh dropped from Radeel’s lips after he had heard Taeslir’s explanation. He walked towards the cause of his disturbance and his voice, telling Deengar to get back to the main hall without another word, sounded from behind the corner. With a huff Deengar was back in the room the next moment and slumped down on one of the chairs.

Lou merely watched what was going on and flinched when Deengar yelled at him, what he were staring at him for. Taeslir had gone back to his work – unbothered by the situation, Lou figured. When Radeel returned with Liu walking behind him, Deengar jumped from his seat. Running towards them after he had noticed the desired, black object in Liu’s hands, he met them halfway on their walk to the table. He snapped at them, why they’d steal it from him – although the reason seemed unimportant since he only kept on yelling for an apology.

»I…It was – «, Liu mumbled and held out the dagger with both their arms. Their gaze lay upon to floor, having given away under Deengar’s glare.

»I fixed it«, Liu said when Deengar picked the dagger from their hands. Confused, he looked at it and turned it around in his hands.

»The tape around the handle came loose. I noticed, so I reattached it…«, they added, still not looking at the other. »I’ll tell you next time.«

All three of them – Liu finally looking at Deengar who was still inspecting the blade in his hands and Radeel waiting patiently for their conversation to continue – shared some glances within the next seconds. His patience being the first one to leave, Radeel cleared his throat once and tilted his head to one side, whispering Deengar’s name.

»Sorry…«, he admitted, his voice being nothing but a meek breath. He thanked Liu shortly after as Radeel tilted his head even further – his glare intensifying.

»Good«, Radeel ended their argument and stemmed his hand against his hip. »Try to avoid yelling next time, would you?«

He left without another word, heading to his room. Liu also left again and audibly locked the door behind them.

»Is someone dealing with severe anger issues again?«, Taeslir mocked him and leaned back in his chair. He hung his head over the backrest and turned his head to look at the addressed person.

Lou had hardly processed the sentence when Deengar had already moved over to them, standing behind Taeslir. He had bent Taeslir’s head over the rest and stroked his claws over the side of his neck. The shaky breath he gained as a result made him smirk down at the face captured between his arms.

»What’s up with the bratty attitude?«, Deengar whispered and leaned down so that his breath was hitting Taeslir’s temple. His fingers clawed stronger at the skin on Taeslir’s neck as he spoke again. »Do I need to drill some manners into you, Tae?«

Taeslir whimpered softly at the question and he pulled his legs up to his chest from under the table. The hot breath on his temple was accompanied with Deengar’s lips brushing against it and Taeslir closed his eyes at the touch. When Deengar pulled away a little to directly lean over his face, Taeslir’s fingers weakly found their way around Deengar’s.

»I need to finish this…and correct something«, he said and pulled on the claws – a plea to let him finish his work, because if Deengar refused, Lou was certain, Taeslir wouldn’t be able to resist him.

»Till when?«, was all Deengar wanted to know and placed his fingers which had slipped from Taeslir’s grip on his neck again.

»In the evening…Radeel wants to look through them.«

Deengar sighed and removed his claws; Taeslir gasping lowly as he managed to catch a moan in his throat. His legs placed themselves on the floor again and he reached for the pen, his hand visibly trembling.

»You come with me then«, Deengar said and place his arms atop of another on the chair Taeslir was sitting on. Lou blinked frantically and glanced at him. The horror in his eyes must’ve been clearly noticeable; Deengar hissed derogatively through his teeth and moved to Taeslir’s side.

»What? You aren’t needed here and I’m sure I can have some fun with you till I can do Taeslir«, he guessed and looked down on the other vampire, waiting for an approving reaction. However, Taeslir was busy hiding the emerging blush on his face.

Lou still frozen in place – even after Deengar had told him to follow him and gone away – stared at the wooden rest behind Taeslir’s head. The whispered hiss of his name from that exact person teared him out of it, however, and he got to his feet before going after Deengar. He walked upstairs without a glance behind his shoulder and turned to the right when a door appeared on the second floor. Leaving it wide open after he had walked inside, Lou peeked inside the room before stepping into it. He had expected it to be less spacious, more chaotic and less…red. A carpet, the colour of the covers on the bed and one wall all shared the same dark tone of red.

Lou closed the door behind him and looked around at the parts he hadn’t seen yet. In fact, the side of the room which one didn’t see at first sight was messier than the rest. Several weapons – varying from small daggers to a broad, heavy claymore – were scattered around the floor and on the cupboards. Although their arrangement seemed chaotic at first, Lou believed to make out some kind of order after he had taken a closer look at them.

At the order to take of his clothes Lou looked up from the items fascinating him. His eyes met Deengar’s back for a second, but he averted them shortly after and began unbuttoning his blouse.

»Can you fight with all of them?«, Lou decided to ask and glanced at the weapons again. Since they seemed to be something precious to Deengar, he figured it, he’d not snap at him for raising his voice. In the end, his phrasing still upset the other one and Lou earned himself a growl.

»You think I can’t?«

»No, no…I never said – I didn’t mean it like that…they just – they seem very different from another. I think you’re talented if you mastered them all«, Lou stumbled over his own words and hectically pulled on his buttons to make sure Deengar didn’t grasp his question as disobeying.

»I can fight with all of them«, Deengar answered and bent down in front of a cabinet. »And they all have blades – if someone doesn’t manage to master them all they’re not worthy to wield a sword.«

Lou frowned upon his clearly exaggerated and narcissistic statement, but returned to his clothes the next instant. If Deengar were to see his expression, the atmosphere would certainly change. He was ordered to turn around after he had got rid of anything but his underwear and Deengar had pulled out some – surprisingly red – rope. The material slung its way around Lou’s arms – tightly secured behind his back – and twisted into several knots which he felt touching his spine. Lou hissed slightly at the burning sensation of them scratching across his skin when Deengar pulled the remaining strings tighter together at his upper arms. The articulation of his name didn’t stop him in his movements and Lou soon found himself on his knees in the middle of the red carpet.

»Deengar, wait…please«, Lou begged as he watched the other bringing more and more items which were wrapped around his body; A dark band covered his eyes and another thick cloth came to rest in Lou’s mouth before it tightened into a knot behind his back. Thus, any further resistance ended in muffled, desperate noises. As a result, he flinched at the touch of Deengar’s hand on his shoulder. His following whimpers as Deengar wrapped his hand around his neck sounded muffled the barrier, but Deengar ignored simply ignored them. He pulled Lou closer to him and kept him from flinching or escaping another time.

»Will you shut up?«, he said and added the pressure on Lou’s neck. In return he merely got a muffled sob and he sighed and stood up, pushing Lou to the floor.

He was unable to sit up again; the rope around his arms let him roll to his side, but he was incapable of pushing himself up without losing his balance and flopping down again. Whenever he reached the point of needing a single, last heave to sit upright again, a knot painfully pressed into his back and he fell to the floor with a groan.

The feeling of skin on skin a few moments later caused Lou to jerkily pull away once again, but just as previously he was held in place by a strong hand. Stemming itself onto one of his shoulder blades this time, any possible way to move was taken from him. A loud plea and a name left his lips again, but no matter how hard he tried, they turned out incomprehensible and useless.

A scream then shoot outwards from his lungs as he felt an agonizing burn on his lower back and he violently shook and pulled on his restrains. He yelled Deengar’s name again and sensed the salty wetness staining the cloth around his eyes; they stung in accordance. The muffled screams were all for nothing as Deengar simply pressed his whole arm onto his back instead, but Lou hadn’t given up yet. With all remaining voice and breath, he shouted multiple pleas and begs in despair – still he reached no one with them.

As another tormentingly stinging hotness dropped onto his back, the air in his lungs was sucked out. A shaking coldness overcame him and he lost any control over his muscles. With every frantic breath he took, Lou only felt himself at more loss of air than before; he hyperventilated and began to cry at the helplessness of it. One more drop fell on his back and he feared his lungs would give out if he didn’t reach Deengar anytime soon. To his regret, his mind couldn’t form any proper sentences and his attempts at screaming for this to stop ended in powerless sobs.

However, these were – even muffled through the gagging cloth – clearly hearable and filled out the room, coming to Deengar’s notice. While snapping the material in Lou’s mouth in half, he complained about his stupidity and unwillingness.

»Please – stop. De – Deengar, stop – please«, Lou used his chance as soon as he had felt his mouth being free again. There still wasn’t enough oxygen filling his lungs and the consistent, hectic pleas only added to his suffocation. They gained in volume when Deengar pulled him to his knees and his tears rolled down his cheeks after he had removed the blindfold. When the sobs continued to uncontrollably slip from his lips, Deengar forced Lou to look at him.

»I’m sorry – Deengar – sorry. Please – sorry«, he cried when he couldn’t escape the piercing glare hitting him like one of Deengar’s daggers.

An annoyed roll of his eyes and a sound of pure disappointment later, the rope around his arms slowly came loose. It took longer than the simple snapping of the other restrains; Deengar needed to unknot his previous doings and the position he was in didn’t give him the perfect angle for doing so. He had pushed Lou’s head down on his shoulder after he had figured letting go of him would result in another fall to the carpet.

There was an aching ringing which echoed right beside Lou’s ears and even though he was convinced it was just his imagination he couldn’t keep his mind off it. In addition, the anguished burning of his throat had spread to his chest which was still rising and falling abnormally fast.

He was a mess.

As the rope was completely removed from his arms, his helplessness very much increased instead of doing the opposite. Lou slung his arms around Deengar the second he could move them apart and tried to stop his hands from trembling by curling his fingers around the loose material on his back.

»Sorry – Please, don’t – don’t be mad. Deengar – sorry – «

There was to much pain to focus on any longer – the developing sting in his chest, the burning throat above it, the bloodshot, sore eyes filled with more liquid than they could hold and, therefore, the blurry vision that made his head ache. The trembling had overtaken him when the restrains came off, but in regard of the other suffering he had to endure the shaking of his muscles slipped past his notice.

»Calm down before you speak«, Deengar eventually mumbled and pulled on the arms around his chest. At his touch on them, Lou squeezed and pressed his body into Deengar with his remaining strength. He would not refuse him and he shouldn’t get angry at him, Lou choked out, but got interrupted by Deengar pushing him away from him.

»I’m not mad. You better let go of me, if you want to keep it like that«, Deengar answered and rose to his feet. The rope landed on the carpet next to Lou as he walked off and out the door to the hallway.

Lou pulled his legs to his chest in the meantime and slung his arms around the back of his thighs. His back was resting against the hard bedframe and prevented him from swinging back and forth; to his appreciation for he once more hated everything about his coping mechanisms. Although Deengar took some time in returning to the room, he was still faster at his side again than any mortal being could have managed. Noticing the glass of water in his hand, Lou pulled out his hand from between his legs and grabbed it from Deengar. He expressed his gratitude and gained a huff from the other.

»Radeel told me I’d need to take care of you if I broke you. Don’t think this is about you«, Deengar explained and sat down on the edge of the bed beside Lou.

While looking down on him, he asked, what caused Lou’s burst of emotion. He had panicked, Lou breathed and concentrated on not dropping the glass as he tried to deepen his breathing.

»No shit. I asked why, idiot.«

Lou glanced up at the other shyly. With one foot placed on the bed his arm was resting on his knee while the other was stemmed against the mattress behind him to keep himself from falling over. His eyes – seeming colder than his whole presence – were once more the reason why Lou averted his gaze. He stared down on the water swapping around in his shaking hands instead.

»You didn’t give me any option to stop you from – «

»Do I need to?«, Deengar cut him off and slid his tongue over his front teeth and fangs when Lou looked up at him in fear.

»Listen…please«, Lou answered – although his common sense told him an actual answer wasn’t expected by the other – and pushed himself away from the bedframe. His teeth buried themselves softly into his lower lip as he turned around and positioned himself in front of Deengar. There was still enough space between them for Lou to not worry about Deengar punching him because of his explanation (although he knew very well the distance didn’t matter with Deengar’s kind).

»I agreed to this, Deengar«, he started and forced his sight to stay fixed on the person he was talking to. »I said I’d obey you all and I’m obligated to do so, but…I can’t behave like you want me to if you force yourself on me without the slightest chance of objecting.«

They stared at each other; Deengar’s expression being unreadable as he was always giving off the impression of a lifeless statue – or a wild bull. It didn’t matter what he just said, Lou mused and focused his eyes on the glass between his hands again. He was convinced Deengar would just hit him and proceed with him however he liked.

»So, you want me to let you object?«, he presented his conclusion after some more seconds. Lou shook his head and explained it to him again, his eyes staying in the same position.

»I won’t refuse whatever you want to do…I just – I need to be capable of asking you to do it slower or…stop, even«, his fingers pressed tighter around the object they were wrapped around and even without Deengar’s facial expression known to him, tears started to well at the corners of his eyes. The scenarios playing out in his head were enough to make him regret his statement.

Hence, the simple approval of the other shocked Lou; he looked up in confusion.

»Wipe that look off your face and get up before I change my mind«, Deengar growled and pushed himself off the bed. He added, Lou should place the glass on the cupboard behind him. In the meantime, he picked up the candle he had dropped on the carpet earlier. There were some dried drops of wax sticking to the side of it.

»What else did you think I poured on you?«, Deengar wanted to know after he had noticed Lou looking from the candle to the side of his waist. The mark on his lower back was out of range for him to see, but he could feel the round, raw spot if he moved his hand over it.

»I haven’t thought about it yet…to be honest«, Lou answered and sat down on the bed after Deengar had told him to. He pushed him back on the mattress the next instant and told him to spread his arms apart. They were each secured to something underneath the bed and Lou was unable to bend or lift them.

»I’ll continue with what I wanted earlier«, Deengar said and picked up the blindfold from the floor. »If you can’t bear it, tell me, but don’t think about exploiting my offer.«

He wrapped the cloth around Lou’s head again and spread his legs apart to place himself between them. Not long after a drop landed on Lou stomach. He flinched, squeezed his legs together around Deengar and hissed sharply. The next one connected with his skin right next to the previous mark and a small whimper formed from his hissing.

As Deengar went on, Lou could feel the wax drawing a small line over his body. They had fallen upon him starting at his stomach and lead to the opposite side of his upper body. Deengar wasn’t planning on stopping at his ribcage – the continuous drops and his legs squeezing around his hips now instead of his waist revealed such to him. His voice had arisen to a quiet sob whenever the wax hit him and he had started to tremble involuntarily. The time during the hot burn shooting through his muscles and another drop falling on a different spot seemed to be endlessly long and still as soon as a new drop announced itself Lou thought, they fell too fast. The pain from the previous ones hadn’t ceased and therefore with every additional drop of wax, Lou suffered multiplied stings.

»Wait, Dee – «, Lou gasped when he felt a drop landing dangerously close to a certain area on his chest, but his own whimper cut him off. The angle of the candle must’ve been changed; several drops were falling on his skin at once and turned Lou’s noise into a pained scream.

»Just the other side, then you’re done«, Deengar reassured him, but added a warning to keep quiet next time.

No pain was inflicted on Lou for a moment as Deengar slipped his hand under his underwear and stroked Lou’s dick briefly. Lou’s amused whine when he wrapped his fingers around him led Deengar to take on some movement. He warned him not to scream again and the sticky liquid connected with Lou’s other nipple.

With one hand moving around his cock the noise slipping from his mouth at the pain on his chest turned out to be a growled moan. However, as soon as the drops had stopped falling onto him, Deengar removed his hand and pulled off his remaining clothes. Instead of the expected touch at his hole, Lou was met with two fingers inside his mouth. He choked at first, but twirled his tongue around them when he was told to do so. Deengar was nice enough to loosen him up with said two fingers although his means of preparation were a bit harsher than they should’ve been. Not that Lou expected any gentleness from the man; he appreciated the little thoughtfulness he received.

Just as Deengar left him empty again, his legs were spread even further apart and he felt something wrapping around his ankles. For a few seconds Deengar didn’t touch him; Lou guessed he removed his own clothes, but when his hands slipped under his hipbones, Lou piped up again.

»Could you not go all the way in right at the beginning?«, he asked and whined when Deengar’s tip pressed into him and stretched him more than his fingers had done.

He did move slower than last time and pushed inside in tiny but consistent steps. Buried deep inside with one last faster push, Lou whimpered and his legs shook against their restrains. His arms shot up when Deengar choose his pace mercilessly, but they didn’t leave the mattress they were lying on at all. Instead, his hands clawed at anything they could reach and his ankles crashed against the metallic restrains around them.

»De-Deengar…please«, Lou whined, pulling on the rope around his wrists once more.

»I can’t see you in unbearable pain, stop whining«, Deengar said and paced up his thrusts.

He was holding onto Lou’s hips wherefore his lower back was raised from the mattress. The shaking legs around his waist were a sign of Lou struggling and resisting against the chains holding him in place. Deengar told him, he should stop pulling at them and the ropes around his arm if he didn’t want it to hurt, while he was leaning forward – changing the angle of his thrusts. Lou moaned in response.

»Touch…me – please«, he whimpered in between moans and pushed his hips into the hand that connected with his cock once after he had reached Deengar’s understanding. The hand barely moved around him and his weak jumps of his hip weren’t the key to his satisfaction either.

»Tell me you like it…you’re always shy and distant around me«, Deengar whispered against Lou’s ear who whimpered in surprise. »Were you wrong about not enjoying me?«

Deengar’s thumb grazed his tip and he moaned and arched into the touch, but Deengar pulled his finger away at the reaction. He’d want an answer, he said and focused on his thrusts again – harsh and faster like intended they managed to force a groan out of Lou.

»Yes.«

»Yes, what?«

»I like…this – you feel a-amazing«, Lou moaned and followed Deengar’s order to let his name slip from his lips.

The teeth which soon connected with his neck began to suck his blood at the same time as the strokes on his cock became enjoyable. Deengar pulled his hips towards him with every rough thrust he took and his hipbones throbbed slightly under the pressure. Completely overwhelmed by the moan next to his ear, however, they were hidden from his perception. He clenched around Deengar’s cock and cried out his name when the pressure on his own was too much to handle. After he had spilled himself on Deengar’s hand, it found its way to the other side of his hip and grabbed down on it. The thrusts gained intensity once more before Lou felt himself being filled up and noticed the sting on his neck. His teeth buried themselves even deeper into him and he cried at the throbbing pain they left behind.

After Deengar’s thrusts had ceased, he pulled out –accompanied with another whine of Lou – and stayed between his legs for a moment. He got to work on the restrains on his ankles just as Lou’s situation had began to grow uncomfortable on him – his hands following soon after. Lou slid the blindfold off his eyes, blinking at the dim light hitting them. He carefully took a glance at Deengar who had turned his back to him and sat at the edge of the bed.

»Deengar?«, he whispered and clenched his fists around the sheets when the vampire turned to face him. »I…really liked it.«

He had forced his eyes to look at the other, but as he didn’t get an answer the urge to look away increased. His statement merely had the purpose to keep Deengar from hurting him anyhow – or at least he told himself so. His chances would most likely have been the same if not even higher if he had just stayed quiet.

»I know«, Deengar breathed and ran his tongue over his upper lip to get rid of some blood on it. This time Lou’s gaze shot to the mattress, embarrassingly hiding the heat rushing to his cheeks.

»You don’t taste blood as we do, right?«, Deengar said and crawled towards Lou on the mattress. He tilted his chin, forcing Lou to face him again and stared into his eyes for a second. Lou noticed Deengar glancing to his lips once before he connected his with them. The tongue he forced into him tasted metallic and gross, but Lou didn’t dare making an attempt to pull away – Deengar doing so anyway shortly after the thought had struck his mind.

»A shame…«, he breathed – directly onto Lou’s lips – before he let go of his chin and got off the bed. Allowing him to rest if he needed to, Deengar went off to the corner his weapons were placed at.

Lou didn’t want to overestimate his chances of any other act of kindness wherefore he simply wrapped the blankets around him and tried to relax his muscles. But; he must have shifted more noticeably and often than he had meant to; Deengar threatening him with tying him up again if he didn’t stop. However, his muscles just weren’t arriving at the desired relaxation and he rolled around on the bed again. Even though his eyes were closed, he noticed Deengar approaching the bed and falling into it beside him.

»One more move and I’ll kick you out«, he warned and slung his arm around Lou’s shoulder, holding him in place and pulling him against him.

Lou opened his eyes for a second, realising he’d only stare at Deengar’s chest. For that reason – and fear once again – he closed them again and searched for tiredness in the corners of his mind, snuggling against Deengar’s chest while doing so.


	5. Chapter 5

It was dull; Lou’s mind, the atmosphere around him and (once again) the ceiling. He had been staring at it for too long for his mind to keep track of the exact time span, in fact, his mind had even driven off to several states beside consciousness. Still, sleep didn’t arrive and his eyes couldn’t be held closed by his mere will. Lou feared the ache in his chest would spread to his arms, hands and fingers – which felt numb lying motionlessly next to his body – despite the soothing cup of tea he had drunk.

The chilling touch on his cheek caused Lou to jerk – for one for the feeling of surprise that had arisen from it, but also for the freezingly cold temperature the hand withheld. At the same time, he did lean into the touch, however. His burning skin appreciated the equalizer.

»I told you to sleep«, Yppha said and placed his hand on Lou’s forehead. Again, Lou weakly pushed up into the palm against his head.

»How are you supposed to get better if you’re unwilling to sleep«, he sighed, brushing a few sticky strands of hair away from Lou’s forehead.

His current state had started to develop shortly before Yppha and Lax had returned. To his appreciation and favour since the others had been at loss of known possibilities at the sight of Lou fainting in front of them. He had tried to hide his emerging cold, but at the consistent sucking of his blood his system had eventually shut off and things had played themselves out as mentioned. Yppha had been the one to comprehend the situation and had taken actions accordingly; starting with bringing Lou to his room where he had been staying for two days by now.

»I’m cold…«, Lou’s breath echoed from the plain walls and he tried shifting into the touch once again. He whined softly as Yppha removed his hand from his head, but his muscles still didn’t want to chase after it.

»You are burning up, you actually need to cool down even more«, Yppha said and pulled the blankets on Lou’s upper body a bit down. His hand shot upward this time to snap the piece of fabric from the other.

»Don’t…leave it there please«, Lou protested and tried to pull on the cover, but Yppha held it strictly in place while he explained, the covers needed to stay there otherwise he would heat up to the point where he couldn’t help him.

»You could just move closer…that will have the same effect«, Lou said and slung his arms around Yppha’s right above his chest. »You’re cold anyways.«

The vampire sighed, but still slid down from his sitting position and lay down next to Lou. An arm wiggled under the covers and Yppha pulled Lou closer to him after he had slung it around him.

»Close your eyes now. I want you to sleep«, he mumbled and waited until Lou had shifted into a position he seemed to be comfortable in before hugging him tightly to his chest. Lou’s arm came to rest on Yppha’s side and he carefully added pressure, making sure Yppha wouldn’t scold him for doing so, before he pulled on his waist softly. Lou closed his eyes; tried to relax into the tight embrace as the build-up tension left his body.

The regular sniffs and painful coughs forcing their way through his throat kept him from arriving at a peace of mind and relaxed muscles. Yppha tried soothing his pain by calmingly stroking over the back of his head. Yes, his mind could be eased by that, but his body didn’t heal through his action. 

»Sorry, Yppha«, Lou whispered softly after another cough had violently claimed his throat. The other reassured him, it was fine and not his fault. He did wonder for the reason of the sickness suddenly befalling him and was sorry himself for not being capable of doing more for him.

»I don’t remember what made me feel better when I was sick. I’m not much help, I think…«, he added and raised an eyebrow when Lou asked him if he could even catch a cold. He blamed Lou’s exhausted state for the question and was convinced he’d find an answer to it himself if he weren’t barely breathing and heavily sweating from his sickness right now.

»I’m talking about when I was a human«, he still answered and chuckled as Lou’s confusion seemed to increase. »We all were – except Radeel and Laxseau – aren’t there any stories about that? But like I said, I don’t remember that time very clearly.«

»O-okay then…«, Lou breathed and pressed into the crook of Yppha’s neck. He was starting to tremble again and Yppha did his best in comforting him. Just as he had thought the other was finally asleep, Lou coughed once more and shifted slightly. Yppha pulled him closer and rubbed over his back gently; the tremble fading at his touch and lack of any possible movement.

Sometime later, his breathing steadied and his eyelids didn’t flutter that heavily anymore. With a quiet pronunciation of his name Yppha affirmed himself; Lou was finally sleeping.

The well-needed rest hadn’t been enough it seemed; the room spun around when he opened his eyes. Their closed state wasn’t much to his liking either though. It seemed his whole body was violently pulled back and forth whenever darkness enclosed him although he lay perfectly still.

The room itself wasn’t as dark as Lou was used to, he noticed after some time. The walls shimmered in a greyish, white colour and the air seemed fresher – livelier even. He rolled around slowly and found Yppha missing from the bed and the drawn back curtains to his right. Pale moonlight was shining inside, throwing shadows behind the furniture and decorations. They spread themselves wide out on the floor and invaded the vertical plane of the walls when they reached the end of it.

Lou stared at the forgotten phenomenon – he had pushed himself up with all his strength and placed his feet on the floor. Although the window was wide open, the air sweeping inside was neither extremely chilly nor felt it harsh against Lou’s body. The floor underneath his bare feet wasn’t freezing, either, as he had expected it to be. Everything felt warm and safe; the soft breeze that made the curtains flutter and the brisk vividness it embraced his body with. All that drew his curiosity and feet towards the opened shutters.

His strength barely sufficed for his walk – as soon as he had reached the desired destination, he almost plumped down. The windowsill was his last rescue saving him from dropping to the floor. He had stemmed his arms on and leaned his whole weight against it, all just to keep his head upright and catch a brief view on the landscape out there. A landscape his mind hardly remembered.

There were mountains in the distance. Humongous and sharp the glistened where his eyesight lost its capabilities and even from here – the small window he was standing in front of – Lou could sense their massiveness and intimidating aura in his core. Anyone was told from a young age up to avoid these monstrous places at all cost – stories had forced their way into every village – but Lou had always been fascinated by them. Not enough to let himself be drawn towards them, like many self-proclaimed adventurers had done – once and never again were they heard of.

A forest seemed to surround the entire building they were staying in because everything else Lou could spot were trees. Huge and thick ones – surely they were older than many of these house’s residents. They scattered themselves along the flat field and the small hills further away. Lou had never been this far out of town – he reckoned he had never seen anything other than civilisation.

The sound of the lock of the door made him jump slightly. He hadn’t been able to react anywhere near on time to not be noticed, he just stayed still therefore and whispered the person’s name after they had entered the room. Yppha was by his side the next instant, holding him upright and steadying him instead of pushing him away from the window.

»I didn’t try to do anything like escaping. You got to – «, Lou defended himself and helplessly held onto Yppha’s shoulders as he placed him on the windowsill behind them.

»I didn’t assume that. You’d be plain stupid to try and jump from here«, Yppha answered before Lou had even finished his sentence. From this position Lou could see how far up they were; the ground being that far away so that Lou didn’t feel safe on the small platform he was sitting on. He clinged onto Yppha who chuckled, he’d be careful not to drop him.

»It was quite warm outside; I thought some fresh air might help you. That you’d actually stand up and walk to the window is unexpected though«, Yppha explained and pulled Lou closer since he still feared for a fall even though his arms were safely slung around his waist.

»I can’t recall the last time I was outside…it tempted me…«, Lou weakly responded and leaned onto Yppha for support. »I’m sorry if I did it without permission…«

»Don’t worry about that«, Yppha said and leaned onto the windowsill himself. He placed his chin in his palm and stared off into distance. »As long as you do as I say when I tell you to, I don’t mind.«

»But you told me to stay in bed…«

»Almost sounds like you want me to punish you«, Yppha mentioned and cocked his head slightly. Lou averted his eyes quickly and mumbled, he didn’t want that, and Yppha smiled contently. He’d need to get back into bed nevertheless, he said shortly after and picked Lou up from his spot. The covers still felt warm when he was put down – although a sticky wetness had soaked into them just as well – but Lou barely pulled them over himself.

»If you sleep some more, I’ll let you leave the bed in the morning«, Yppha promised and sat down next to him. »And I’ll talk to Radeel if we can arrange some…well, outdoor time.«

Lou had already closed his eyes, but mumbled a quiet statement of gratitude and held onto Yppha’s arm. He had felt more awake earlier, but after some time his exhaustion returned, and his mind came to rest once more; faster and less forced than before.

»Of course it’s organised what are you talking about?«, Liu said and raised from the chair. Lax sighed and clasped a handful of his hair. He leaned onto his hand and turned towards the others in need of help.

»Can I hit them?«, Deengar questioned, but went back to disinterest as soon as he’d been denied. Taeslir was the next one to be asked for help, but simply shook his head and apologized as he went back to another pile of papers on the table.

»See, even Taeslir doesn’t agree with you«, Liu observed proudly and held their chin up high.

»Oh, I do agree with Laxseau in every possible way«, Taeslir did pipe up after all while he was searching for something under the piles. »I just don’t see the point in this argument if you could simply go and do what he asked you to.«

»But cleaning is boring and I hate it. I can’t just “simply” do it«, Liu whined.

»But it’s necessary for order, Liu just – ugh…«, Lax complained and flopped down onto the table. »Don’t your rituals need a well-organized condition to work, too?«

»I do understand what you decided to call “chaos”, so they work perfectly fine«, they explained and smile when Lax sighed in defeat. He was disappointed, he added, but didn’t seem to care for the outcome of their argument any longer. Lax still asked if Liu would change their mind if he got Radeel’s opinion as well. They mentioned, he’d not care – the room was theirs after all. With a final sigh Lax gave in and dropped the topic involuntarily.

»Would you clean it if I helped you?«, Lou asked confidently. As Liu’s as well as Lax’ gaze came to rest upon him, those feelings faded, however. He stared down to the glass in his hands.

»I can’t put such a strain on our pet, when you’ve only been feeling better for three days«, Liu said and shook their head in unison.

»But I’m feeling better, and I can’t just sit – «

»They said no, didn’t they?«, Lax cut him off, leaning back in his seat.

»I actually think some movement would help him recover faster«, Yppha piped up from across the room. He had walked in a moment ago and buttoned up the blouse loosely hanging from his shoulders. His whole appearance looked messy and exhausted; Lou reckoned to even spot some red marks on his neck.

»And Radeel just told me, you should listen to the others«, he added and approached them. Liu sighed and wanted to know, how he had found out about it (to which Lax reminded him, they’d not been able to reach them for the past couple of days because they couldn’t even open the door to their room. His explanation was ignored by Liu, however; they had gone back to complaining about how tiring cleaning was.)

»Are you feeling well enough to spare me some blood?«, Yppha whispered after he had walked up to Lou’s side. He mumbled a quiet, but assured affirmation and Yppha moved closer to pull his shirt away from his neck.

Lou had grown accustomed to the slight pain every pierce of fangs brought with them; he had managed to stop flinching when their teeth came to touch his skin. Understandably, the sucking felt anything but pleasant – even after all this time – he couldn’t much change anything about that. Although he had figured out the pain and uncomfortableness depended a lot on the one biting him, all of them still inflicted some slight aching on him though.

Radeel’s and Deengar’s bites caused a throb which would spread over the entirety of his neck even though their harshness and strength differed a lot from another. Deengar simply didn’t care for the pain he caused and showed such with his way of sucking – violently and cruelly fast most of the time. Radeel’s methods, on the other hand, varied; they could feel completely harmless and sometimes Lou had even admitted he’d not feel his fangs inside himself at all, but the complete opposite was apparent just as well. Tears had accompanied him several times as Radeel had mercilessly drunk from him.

Yppha was the most careful one. He’d refrain from hold Lou in place by force like the other’s all did, his hands were placed on Lou’s shoulder and head, nevertheless. But in contrast to the others, Yppha let him move around freely and kept his hands on him merely for the purpose of being able to stop Lou if he were to move dangerously. The bites still weren’t completely painless.

Taeslir and Lax were rather neutral. They both had some special habits – Taeslir sucking fast and emotionless (which simply meant no talking and no repeated biting in between) whereas Lax never seemed satisfied with any spot and always settle for Lou’s arm in the end – but neither of them specifically hurt or pained him.

The one who concerned Lou the most was Liu. They’d either be the friendliest, most wholesome at sucking and even exceeded Yppha at certain times or be the worst of them all. When their temper or stability seemed to be in bad condition, their biting tended to be messy and agonizingly cruel. Lou had got away with ugly wounds several times already since they threw their teeth into one and the same spot over and over again without actually removing them first. He’d be comforted by the same person at the end of it though wherefore Liu still wasn’t the least one on his preferred list. (Yppha would’ve hated him if he found out he picked favourites in terms of biting, but Lou was dedicated to not telling anyone.)

The coldness around him moved away at some point and Yppha’s fingers left his hair. Just as his sucking the dispute of Lax and Liu had ended as well – with Liu ordering him to follow them.

They worked their way through the entrance to Liu’s room – the door hardly opened like Lax had mentioned. Inside, the situation could’ve never been pictured by Lou’s sole imagination like it existed in the real world. A description of it would not do it justice either wherefore we’ll just leave it at; irresponsible and harmful untidiness on the highest rank possible.

Liu told Lou to get his hands on the books which were scattered all around the floor and bed since they didn’t want him to touch any utensils or ingredients. To the question, how he should order them on the shelf, Liu shrugged and went to pick up blankets and covers from the floor.

In silence, they both got to work and the room was slowly turning back to something the term “room” was fitting for. There were many books Lou couldn’t detect the topic or possible category of, but Liu wasn’t bothered by him questioning every single one of them.

»That one?«

»Some plants and potions, I think.«

»And that?«

»Oh, that’s on accelerating the speed of our self-healing.«

»You can speed that up?«, Lou asked curiously and placed the books next to some others he had categorized as “healing and health” in his mind.

»Of course. It’s fairly easily actually, just ram a sharp stick of glass which contains some live energy right into the heart. That’s it, I always do that, but it’s quite dangerous if you do it wrong«, Liu answered and kept on rambling as their hands moved to pack away some jars, their mind overflooded with words.

Lou mused, he didn’t like the way most of Liu’s spells or sorceries worked as the explanations continued to fall out of their mouth. However, he had trusted them once with their skill in them he’d do it again with the new ones he had found out about.

»I…uhm – I can’t read that one«, Lou admitted and turned away when Liu grabbed the book from his hands.

»Oh yeah, I can’t either«, Liu said and handed it back to him. Lou’s embarrassed state ceased, but he expressed his emerged confusion through a question.

»I don’t even know why I have that book. It’s somewhere from the East, they speak a different language there«, Liu explained as they kneeled down in front of a cupboard and opened it. Multiple empty bowls fell out of it and they sighed audibly. »It’s really widespread over there and the only language spoken, I believe no ordinary person would know our language, but I wish I understood theirs.«

Liu told him to just place it somewhere at the end or bottom of the shelf; they had no use for it. As the hours passed on, the cupboards and shelves filled up with the corresponding materials and both sighed contently.

»I dislike cleaning, but this is not that bad«, Liu smiled and swirled around the new-found, free space. They had managed to make the room appear habitable again and although the furnishings of the room had not changed character as their places had done, Lou felt a kind of contentment looking at them. Liu’s room seemed to be built for all those strange objects and disturbing substances since they adapted themselves to the whole atmosphere – an idyllic and complete picture presented itself.

»I’m glad you like it«, Lou said and fell on the bed. He had done most of the work for the latter half of the time, Liu had simply refused to touch any other belongings and went with ordering Lou around instead.

»I can go now, right?«, Lou asked when Liu gifted his attention to their new clean and organised cupboards. They nodded absentmindedly, pulled out a few drawers and scrabbled some words into a small book. The consequences for interrupting Liu during anything that was connected to their passion were known to Lou (Yppha had told him about them in gruesome detail) wherefore he left the room, carrying the silence outside with him.

He never knew what time it was – they didn’t own a clock if I haven’t mentioned so far, and any other possibility to assume the current hour was as usual inaccessible. In the end, his exhaustion and growling tummy informed him about the amount of time that had passed. The kitchen as destination, Lou’s feet dragged him across the floor.

Rarely he chose a difficult or time-consuming dish to prepare – not that he knew many of that sort. The lack of energy was the reason in most cases, but lately he had found himself unmotivated to eat anything, the idea of cooking thus never struck his thoughts. With his stomach empty and a faint feeling of sickness still accompanying him, Lou forced himself to at least prepare and eat something warm. His hands hovered over pots and pans and his whole body eventually got into motion – the ingredients turning to an enjoyable dish as time went on.

»Are Liu and you done yet?«, Radeel questioned after he had appeared next to Lou out of the blue. Unsurprisingly, he had startled him and Lou dropped the wooden spoon in his hand. While he picked it up, he mumbled an answer and convinced Radeel of the truth when he seemed to doubt a clean and proper room belonging to Liu.

»Come to my room after you are finished then«, Radeel said and was to turn around when he stopped once more. Radeel’s eyes roamed over Lou once before he looked back up. A slight squint could be seen on them and Lou grabbed onto the handle of his pan to keep his fingers from shaking. »And clean yourself first, would you?«

He was off without waiting for an answer and Lou could hear his door flying shut a moment later. Needless to say, the statement had caught Lou off guard and afflicted his thoughts, resulting in him poking his finished dish. Multiple scenarios and outcomes of any future action raced through his mind – the space to describe each one of them individually would not suffice and would likely be boring the reader more than entertaining them why I will refrain from doing so – and led to Lou’s dish getting cold before he finished it.

Following the agreed rule, he still did just as he had been told; the dirty plates were cleaned and stored away and the shower lasted shorter than Lou had liked. He had hoped for his thoughts to disappear once he stepped into the tub to clean himself, but they did quite the opposite. Lou had tried to escape them by showering quicker therefore, however, that action brought his next misery upon him. Knocking was not necessary as the door opened on itself – without Radeel anywhere in sight though – and invited him inside the room.

»Visiting me in such a frightened state, why’s that?«, a familiar voice piped up and Radeel was revealed to Lou. He closed the door without being asked to do so; habits had begun to form and one of them was to never let doors opened. In fact, Lou had noticed their obvious dislike of anything closable not being in such a state. Each of them would shut it with no hesitation, even if it were nothing but a small chest.

Radeel was leaning over a small cupboard to Lou’s left, rummaging through a small drawer. Due to him not expressing any further commands and being indeed too scared to respond to Radeel’s remark, Lou remained in place next to the door.

»Your heart might actually jump out of your chest if you don’t calm down«, Radeel said after he had realised he’d not get Lou to talk without speaking up again. He threw his head into his neck and turned slightly to look at the other and shut the drawer loudly when he still didn’t get a reaction. Lou jumped at the noise filling the room and stumbled an apology – his voice not withstanding more than that. As Radeel walked towards him, Lou stumbled backwards a couple of steps, hitting the wall behind him.

»You’re really scared of me, aren’t you?« Radeel guessed and leaned over Lou, his hand resting next to his head on the wall. Lou shook visibly under Radeel’s glare and had his own gaze averted to the floor. The words flowing from his mouth were incomprehensible and mumbled too fast; he gained a sigh from Radeel.

»I’m not planning on hurting you«, he explained and moved away his hand before he walked over to the bed. »I didn’t call you here to cause you pain. You can relax, Lou.«

Collecting the rest of his scattered courage, Lou approached and sat down next to him. With another apology he presented his reasoning while he was staring at his hands again.

»It’s been quite some time, I agree«, Radeel said and bent backwards to look at the ceiling. »But that’s also the reason why I wanted to see you.«

Their eyes connected as Lou cocked his head and Radeel turned to look down on him. Lou nodded understandingly and asked if he could keep sitting upright when Radeel climbed on top of him. The other stared at him for a moment before he sat back down on his previous spot.

»Come here, then«, he smiled and leaned back.

Lou climbed into Radeel’s lap – originally he had planned to merely move closer, but the vampire pulled on him when he had held still, apparently too far away for his liking. His hands moved over Radeel’s shoulders, but one of them was soon pushed down as Radeel placed his on Lou’s neck. He was ordered to relax and Radeel pressed him down into him and onto his shoulders, bending his head to gain accessibility to his blood.

Living up to his word, his fangs piercing his skin barely hurt and his sucking remained slow and unbothersome for the entirety of it. The position Lou was in allowed him to sink into the arms holding him in place. His chin rested comfortably on Radeel’s neck and his fingers ghostly traced some lines on the places they could reach. A thin trail of blood was the only reason why Lou was reminded of the vampire’s teeth inside of him; he had accustomed to it for one, but Radeel was more gentle than usual too. It escaped Lou’s notice when they left his neck, so he kept leaning onto Radeel’s shoulder instead of pulling away. He thought about expressing his gratitude for keeping his promise and smiled into Radeel’s shoulder as the words echoed in his mind.

»Thanking me for sucking on you…a peculiar reaction«, Radeel smirked and burst into laughter as Lou closed his mouth with a shocked expression. He sat up in his lap, but didn’t completely find the will to get off the man just now. Radeel stemmed his arms into the mattress behind him and observed Lou’s doings.

»I’ve been thinking about what Yppha requested, you know…«, he said without breaking their eye contact. »I’m sure you’re informed about it just well enough.«

Lou looked away at last as the intensity of Radeel’s eyes on him outgrew his confidence. It wasn’t necessary, Lou admitted quietly and attempted to move away, but Radeel required an honest answer and grabbed onto the hand in front of him. Reassuringly, he squeezed it.

»I’d never turn down an offer to wish for something if I were you«, Radeel mumbled and cocked his head to the side slightly. Lou was staring at his torso and Radeel had to bend forward to catch a glimpse of his eyes.

»A wish doesn’t require a compensation…«, Lou whispered, pulling his hand out of the other’s grip.

»You’re making it hard for yourself sometimes«, Radeel sighed and leaned back once more. His answer had already been decided either way, he added and finally gained Lou’s eyes on him. A familiar expression danced around his lips before he sat up in one quick go.

»Too bad, my decision is unnecessary in your eyes…right?«, he breathed against Lou’s neck and ran his finger over the small, red dots on it. Any attempt at escaping was taken from the other; one strong arm around his waist sufficed to make shifting impossible.

»I don’t want – I’m scared, my answer doesn’t please you…«

»We’ve reached honesty at last, why don’t you go on?«

Lou shook slightly at Radeel’s breath hitting his skin and the soft brush of his lips against it functioned as a starting signal. The words fled from his mouth as if in a rush, explaining his state of mind and emotions. He described, how he didn’t want to ruin what he had achieved so far with a wrong statement. Radeel acting as the head of them all, only made him more anxious to behave the wrong way and gaining a punishment as a result. He’d love to get outside, he admitted, but if the price for his desire was a change in their actions – which would alter his treatment just as well – he’d not want it.

»I like the way it is at the moment«, Lou said and took a deep breath, his mind was clear again. To his regret though, because now his carried-out speech flooded his thoughts instead. Radeel chuckled when he pressed into his shoulder with a soft sob. Lou’s fingers were scratching away on his blouse while he desperately waited for a reaction.

»I’ll let you outside«, he said and pushed Lou off him, holding onto his arms. »And nothing will change.«

Their eyes stayed locked for a few, calming breaths before Lou nodded understandingly. He successfully got out of Radeel’s lap a moment later and pulled his crossed legs towards him after he had sat down. He asked for the condition for Radeel’s offer.

»Your consent«, Radeel responded and smiled at Lou’s confusion arising from his answer. »I want to experience what coldness feels like.« He got up and placed himself in front of Lou. His arms slung around his shoulders and he pushed both of them down onto the mattress. »You’ll describe it to me.«

Radeel got back up, leaving Lou on the bed and in an even stronger state of fluster. The question, why he’d need his consent for that arose and Lou turned his head – not daring to sit back up. With a small bucket in hand, Radeel plumped down next to him and removed its lid to reveal his plan.

»A phenomenon right at hand can be described more vividly and accurately, don’t you think?«, he said and withdrew an ice cube from the bucket. The transparent cube twirled on his fingers and Lou moved up slowly to take a glance into the wooden container.

»What else do you want to use?«, he asked and looked back up at a rapid movement of Radeel’s hand. It had caught a grasp of a black cloth behind Radeel and was now holding it up, presenting the blindfold to Lou’s eyes.

»I want your consent because of what happened with Deengar«, Radeel explained and lowered his hand again. Lou figured; nothing would stay behind closed doors with any of them, neither their actions nor spoken content. They all shared one big vow of honesty and trust with another. He’d have liked it, he mused, weren’t he in the middle and excluded from all of it.

»Can I agree, but stop you in the middle of it?«, Lou asked and stared up at the other with big eyes. The small but promising nod of Radeel enlightened his expression and he stated his complete approval. A known command followed and Lou started to undress himself as Radeel got off the bed to do the same.

»I don’t even know how to describe coldness other than…cold«, Lou admitted and furrowed as he was lying back down onto the mattress. Radeel assured him, he’d be fine with anything that came to his mind – and Lou suspected him of solely wanting to enjoy having him in his power. His movements were hastened and he seemed to rush the preparations to start working on Lou; the blindfold had already been wrapped around his head and he was told to keep his hands still at each of his sides. Lou jerked away at the sudden touch of a cube on his torso. He apologized embarrassed by his incapacity of controlling his body, but Radeel said, he needn’t worry and should describe the feeling instead.

»It’s cold…«

»That’s the point of this, yes.«

»It stings a bit, I think«, Lou continued shyly – he could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks. Radeel slid his fingers up to his chest and dragged the frozen cube with him. »And it feels numb if you leave it at one spot too long.«

Radeel inquired if Lou found joy in feeling the sensation of coldness through his body, and watched the ice slowly slither down Lou’s chest after he had let go of it. The increasingly heavy rising of exactly that spot caused it to gain motion.

»Too much is quite painful. You’re fingers and toes get unable to move and if you force them to, they start to ache«, Lou went on, lightly clawing at the sheets his hands could grab. »And I dislike shivering…it’s just unpleasant.«

»Why?«, Radeel asked and placed the already halfway melted ice on Lou’s collarbone. He kept hold of it this time and carefully traced it along Lou’s chest.

»You really don’t – tsk – f…feel anything although you are touching the ice cube?«, Lou expressed his own question. He had hissed sharply as the freezing chill had slid over his nipple.

»It’s just wet…and a bit slippery«, Radeel answered and the cube left Lou’s body for a second. A new, bigger one was pressed onto him the next instant and a soft whimper shot through the room before Lou spoke up again.

»Trembling makes me feel lost…and helpless«, he hardly whispered anymore. The authenticity of his description was probably the key to transmit the highest possible understanding of the feeling to Radeel. On the downside, however, he’d need to reveal his own experiences with it – unpleasant ones at the most.

»And it hurts when you’re muscles don’t get to rest…you’re exhausted, basically«, he continued and couldn’t hold back a cried-out moan as Radeel got rid of his underwear and dropped the cube on his groin.

»It seems like you enjoy it, from my point of view…«, Radeel smirked to himself and picked up the slippery ice from in between Lou’s legs. After he had let it fall onto Lou’s other side, he watched it slide down his inner thigh. The leg was firmly trapped in his hand, keeping Lou from jolting and moving away.

»Hands on the mattress, Lou«, Radeel warned him and moved to get a hold of Lou’s wrist. Before he could touch it, the hand was clutched into his covers again and Lou moved his hip upwards to balance out the lack of movement.

»In the right a-amount it feels…«, Lou breathed, but shook against Radeel’s hand and moaned when the cube travelled further to the inside of his groin.

»Delightful?«, Radeel guessed and smiled as Lou responded with another small jerk and a moan dripping from his lips. However, he removed the ice cube from his skin and reached for a new one. A whine replaced Lou’s moans and he gasped quietly as he felt Radeel’s weight shift on the bed. A chilling breeze then embraced his neck together with Radeel’s lips brushing over him next to it. At the pronunciation of his name, he merely hummed and traced his finger over Lou’s nipple carefully.

Lou’s legs closed themselves and he curled his toes. Radeel worked his way down to Lou’s collarbone and the shaking of his hands eventually grew unbearable at his arousal.

»You’ll keep your hands right where they are«, Radeel ordered and caught the cube between his lips again, keeping it from slipping of Lou’s side. The moan sounding from Lou’s mouth was desperate now and he caught himself pushing up to deepen the touch of Radeel’s lips on his skin.

»Let’s get serious«, Radeel said after he had sat back; the cube sliding down Lou’s chest and landing on the mattress next to him. The next spark of cold didn’t take long to appear; Radeel had pushed his legs apart and pressed some cold, round object against his entrance. Lou asked him to slow down, but the request reached Radeel only after the globe had been pushed inside him.

»Wait! Wait, Radeel, please«, Lou whined and clawed at the sheets. He tried to pull away in vain, every attempt failed with Radeel’s hand holding him in place. He reassured him, it wouldn’t hurt him he had shaped it smoothly – it wouldn’t bring any unwanted cuts upon him.

»Just tell me when I can move it again…deeper preferably«, Radeel added and moved up to plant a kiss on Lou’s neck. »And describe it as best as possible.«

»It hurts…«, Lou cried and tried to move away from Radeel forcing himself onto his neck. His inability to catch a glimpse of the object inside him worsened his discomfort. Radeel in the meantime claimed, that feeling would merely last a blink of an eye.

»There’s a slight sting…like I said, ice stings«, Lou said after Radeel had pushed his command onto him once more. »But it tingles, too…somehow.«

»Does it hurt?«

»Not anymore«, Lou breathed as Radeel’s hand wrapped around his cock and touched him mildly. He’d keep pushing then, Radeel whispered and did as exclaimed; two more globes stretching him before entering. Lou whimpered at each of them, but the soft strokes on his length – reaching his tip ever now and then – made him shiver.

»Feels…numb«, Lou moaned and squeezed Radeel’s arms with his legs weakly. The action also caused him to tighten around the ice filling him up.

»Should I remove it?«, Radeel asked seductively and pulled carefully on the object; it stretched Lou’s hole again as the globe forced its way out of him. The vampire kept it steadily in this position and pain eventually emerged from the unnatural state his body was exposed to. Synchronizing his pull and a harsher stroke on Lou, Radeel forced the globe out of the other and gained a pained groan. The noise soon turned into pleasure as he paced up the movement of his hand. Lou hummed a cheerful response and bit down on his lips as his moans increased in volume and range.

»You’ll draw blood if you bite down on it«, Radeel said and silently told him to stop by pressing his lips onto Lou’s. He forced Lou’s teeth away from his bottom lip, sliding his tongue into his mouth and parting his lips with his own.

Without a warning, he pulled the entire stick of ice out of Lou and fastened his strokes on his cock. Lou screamed since Radeel had pulled away shortly before his action, but the noise was muffled as Radeel placed his lips onto Lou’s again. He spilled himself into Radeel’s hand and trembled heavily through his orgasm. Still taken aback, he turned his head to catch his breath – the air had left his lungs earlier and Radeel had cut of his source of refilling them.

»Are you fine?«, Radeel asked – serious worry sounding through his voice. Lou nodded hectically and concentrated on his breathing. He was, it just surprised him a bit, he assured Radeel through his frantic breaths.

»Fine enough to go another round? You’re free to refuse.«

»Yeah…just give me a second«, Lou answered and shifted on the pillow beneath his head. »Could you remove the blindfold though?«

The mentioned cloth was pulled off his head and Radeel’s hand rested against his cheek after it had sailed down to the mattress.

»You did amazing«, he breathed and caressed Lou’s cheek gently. His thumb moved over the pair of lips next to it and a furrow adorned his face as he spotted some red liquid on it. »And you bit yourself in the end.«

He carefully pulled on Lou’s lower lip, inspecting the damage. With a sigh he showed his relief after he had found out it was nothing but a tiny gap – his thumb kept in place, however.

»You want to lick it up, am I right?«, Lou guessed and smiled warmly – the fingers brushing over his cheek were appreciatingly comforting and Radeel’s features appeared calm, at ease.

»No need to get flirty, little one«, Radeel whispered as he bend down and planted a kiss on Lou’s lips. He parted them, but merely for the purpose of dragging his tongue across the inside before he moved away again. Lou used his chance while Radeel was removing the rest of his clothing to get a look on the object that had previously been pushed inside him. It turned out to be a small, rather thin pole of ice with three globes – increasing in diameter the farther away from the tip – which he had felt earlier.

»I didn’t hurt you, did I?«, Radeel wanted to know as he moved in between Lou’s legs.

He assured him he was fine once more and shook his head in unison with his statement. Radeel nodded and grabbed onto Lou’s thigh to pull him into place. Since his entrance was more than loose, Radeel didn’t need to prepare him and could even push himself inside without any major complications. At the feeling of his balls hitting his skin, Lou threw his head back into his neck. Just now he noticed the chilly wetness rolling down into his slit – still dripping out of him from the melted pole. Radeel picked up a steady rhythm and kept his thrust soft, but deep. When Lou slung his legs around his waist on his own, he leaned forward and placed his hands on either side of Lou’s head.

»This might’ve been one of the best decisions we’ve ever made«, Radeel groaned and pressed his lips onto Lou’s neck. He left a few marks on the spots he visited and added some harshness to his thrust as Lou’s moans echoed right next to his ear.

»What decision?«, Lou asked, honestly confused once again.

»Keeping you…as a personal pet«, Radeel mumbled, sucking on the skin his lips could cover. Lou’s cheeks heated up and even though his face was wide openly shown, Radeel was occupied with his neck and didn’t notice.

He moaned his name after some time and Radeel glance up at him after he had been satisfied with another mark he left. A quiet mention of Lou’s hands was heard and Radeel noticed them still shaking and clenching on the covers next to his knees.

»On my back«, he ordered and hid his gasp by fastening his thrusts when Lou pulled him down with surprising strongness. Although his nails dug into the skin on his back harshly, they’d never be enough to break the skin – the slight pain still felt pleasurable and Radeel moaned into Lou’s ear in response.

»You feel…so good, Ra – ah – Radeel. I like – it…«, Lou stumbled, clawed on Radeel’s back and clenched around the cock inside of him.

»I’m content with you just as well«, Radeel responded and picked up a cruel pace to strengthen his thrusts. »Come for me…pet.«

Lou moaned deeply and squeezed his legs around Radeel’s waist, following the order he had been given. Radeel’s name was dripping from his lips every now and then, bringing the vampire over the edge himself; he released inside Lou and buried his fingers in some strands of hair in his reach. Riding out his high, he noticed Lou losing his breath underneath him and his hands weakly sliding to his ribcage. He pulled out and leaned against the bed rest while Lou was rolling over to the side. His own breathing had lost a bit of its rhythm wherefore they just stayed put next to each other for a while in silence. Radeel was quicker in regaining control again and was thus the first one to speak up.

»There’s a stage play tomorrow night about two hours away from here«, he said and looked down on Lou who had done the same into the opposite direction after he had raised his voice. »Laxseau and Taeslir wanted to go…we can take you with us if you behave. Do you like plays?«

»I’ve never been to one«, Lou admitted and smiled sadly. A happy one soon replaced it, however, and he stated, he’d love to accompany them.

»And I’ll behave«, he quickly added and Radeel chuckled at the rush it had been spoken with.

»You want a bath? Some warmness…Yppha will scold me if you get sick again«, Radeel asked and pushed some strands of hair away from Lou’s forehead. He nodded with a smile and sat up when Radeel jumped off the bed, but a hiss at the sore feeling already arising was the least he could manage. Radeel picked him up without another word, the word “pet” dripped from his lips again as he carried him into the attached bathroom. Lou buried his face into Radeel’s neck – more overwhelmed than embarrassed, nevertheless, the blush colouring his cheeks was the same with either feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been thinking about some bonus chapters with Deengar and Taeslir...bc i need spicy stuff in ma life. Let's see if I find motivation for it!! Oh, and thxx for all the kudoss <3


	6. Chapter 6

Their agreement had apparently been a one-sided decision and what had been put into motion by it could hardly be labelled a “dispute”. Lax and Deengar had been the first ones to object and Yppha decided to join later on. The reaction didn’t surprise Lou, they’d only found out about him coming with them shortly before their planned departure.

»I meant something a little bit…closer to here when I mentioned he should get outside«, Yppha mumbled and glanced at Radeel sceptically. The other two agreed with him and added they’d never agreed on anything in the first place.

»On the other hand, how are you assuring he won’t try anything stupid while we’re there? It’s an ordinary festival after all. If he gets his fingers on some skilled - «

»He knows the rules, I’m certain he’ll refrain from trying his luck again«, Radeel cut off Taeslir’s question and leaned back against the table. »And no, we’ll not chain him up, Deengar.«

His gaze flew towards the other who had taken a confident step forward to present his thoughts. Like Taeslir had said, the theatre was a public event, Radeel explained, chains or any other type of restraint wouldn’t go by unnoticed.

»He behaved quite well lately. We all agreed on rewarding him if he did as we liked«, Radeel mentioned and ended the presentation of his view on the topic.

»Fine, let’s vote«, Lax sighed and pulled on his hair lightly. »We need to leave after all.«

Lax, Deengar and Yppha were against it; they expressed their opinion clearly, simple. Although Radeel’s option was obvious the most, he still stated his answer. Shortly after, Taeslir said, he’d want him to prove his liability, and agreed. And at last, five pairs of eyes looked at Liu who was struggling with a thin paper at hands. They had rolled it up earlier and were now trying to flatten it to its original state again; Lou didn’t get their reasoning, but the activity seemed to amuse them. At the mention of their name, their head shot up and they hummed confusedly, clearly startled by the piercing eyes on them.

»Oh, I don’t care«, they answered after Radeel had explained the issue to them and turned back to the paper.

»That’s not how voting works. You need to give an answer«, Lax sighed impatiently – he had begun to tap his foot onto the floor and was frantically looking around the room. Liu’s head popped up again and after a brief glance towards Lou standing a bit further away, they jumped towards him with a smile.

»Can I sit next to him?«, they asked and pulled on Lou’s arm.

»Yeah…?«, Radeel shrugged and Liu exclaimed their approval – their excitement was welcomed in contrast to the other grumpy moods presented throughout the room and still it unsettle Lou somehow.

»Okay, let’s go«, Yppha said and walked towards the door. They all left one after another and eventually Lou was left standing alone – mind baffled and at loss of muscles wanting to move. A coat was slung over his shoulders and Radeel’s arms heavily pushed down on them.

»If there’s no clear answer, the side I’m on wins«, he whispered and moved away a bit. Lou’s eyes were covered by a cloth a second later and Radeel assured him, it were merely for the way to the carriage outside. With a push he stumbled forwards and clinged to Radeel’s arm which was intertwined with his own.

»Just take one step after the other, I won’t let you trip«, he said before he led him outside and down a staircase.

His eyesight being unavailable, Lou struggled with every step he took despite Radeel holding onto him with determination. It wasn’t the trust in the vampire he lacked, more so his confidence drifted a bit further into oblivion whenever he clumsily tripped over his own feet or nothing at all. Slippery gravel appeared under his feet at some point – after a soft breeze of the night had struck his face – and nearly threw him off them. Radeel once more caught him on his way to the ground, but he still fell deeper than the previous times.

»Carrying you would’ve been easier, I just figured«, Radeel said and picked him up for their remaining walk towards the carriage. There were two tiny steps Lou had to climb up before he plumped down on one of the benches on the inside. Lou noticed the carriage wasn’t big enough to fit all seven of them inside after he had taken the blindfold off; the space sufficed for a maximum of four people. That exact number filled out the room after everyone had climbed inside – Liu had jumped onto the free seat next to him and Radeel and Deengar sat across of them (he had heard Lax shouting something about he’d not sit in the same carriage as Taeslir and Deengar again just before he sent Deengar over to theirs). The vehicles set into a steady pace when the small door closed and drove off. Silence had its wings spread over the cabin for some time, but just as Lou’s thoughts became uncomforting a specific someone piped up, stating their dissatisfaction.

»This is always so boring«, Liu whined and turned on their seat to fall into Lou’s lap with a sigh. Lou jumped slightly, but resisted from any jolts or hectic moves – certainly perceived as unwelcomed by the person in his lap.

Radeel hummed quietly to show his agreement, he didn’t bother to keep Liu occupied, however. His eyes were fixed on some spot on the wooden panelling.

»We could make out«, Deengar suggested casually.

»That’s why Lax threw you out of the other carriage, but I’m sure he didn’t do that to let you do that here«, Liu answered and turned their head to look at him.

A usual discussion of Liu needing to mind their own business and them defending themselves that Deengar was the one who brought up the topic emerged. They only stopped as Radeel went in between their argument; he leaned over and whispered something into Deengar’s ear. His eyes widened and he fell silent immediately. Liu turned back to staring up at Lou and picking on his arm over their chest.

»You really want to do that right before the mission?«, Deengar then wanted to know as Radeel sat back again.

»I like to see it as a motivation since we’ll remember what we come back to«, Radeel breathed and shifted himself against the wall of the carriage, pulling one leg onto the bench they were sitting on.

Deengar’s gaze fixed onto Lou for a moment. Automatically, he connected their eyes and spotted Deengar squinting lightly. Lou drew his eyes away as Deengar’s facial expression slipped off into anger.

»I want to know, too«, Liu piped up and expected an answer with their eyes boring into Radeel. The other just smiled – apparently amused by the reaction he had got from them – but told Liu, they couldn’t keep it to themself if he told them.

»That’s not true!«, Liu protested and shot up, slamming their hands onto each side of them.

»It is, you never keep anything to yourself«, Deengar claimed and Liu’s head snapped at him.

»No, I can! Just last time I kept silent when Yppha told me about that - «

»You’re doing it right now«, Lou mumbled and shyly lowered his head when their eyes lay on him next. From the corner of his eye, he could see Liu’s features softening and they eventually stared at the bench underneath them with hollow eyes. They lay back down and closed them.

»You’ll find out soon enough«, Radeel reassured them, but a quiet hum was everything Liu answered with. Their fingers were fumbling around with each other and Lou felt a sense of guilt emerging. He picked at some strands on the back of Liu’s head and ran his fingers through them softly. If he were to be told off, he was accepting of that reaction – no one could claim he didn’t give his best in whatever he was doing, Lou was content with being sure of that. Any last bit of worry disappeared, however, when Liu’s lips turned into a soft smile. Their ride continued in silence (although Radeel had to flip off Deengar every other minute if he got too bored) and when the carriage stopped, Lou found himself stepping outside into a picturesque meadow.

He had imagined the place he was going to see entirely different than what he was surrounded by, but at a description of his location the word “disappointment” would’ve never struck his mind. When Radeel had told him about a theatre he had pictured one of those massive buildings found in even huger towns – towns he’d never set foot in – the hill he was standing on far off exceeded anything an urban theatre house could’ve offered him.

Lou found himself at awe; his sight reached down the small hill to a flat field – artificially adapted to fit stalls and tables on it. To the far left – where his sight lost its capacities – he spotted the stage, formed by stones acting as a platform.

»We’re almost late, will you get moving?«, Lax yelled from his spot a bit to the right where the other carriage had parked. He stormed down the hill without waiting for an answer or the others to get into motion.

»Why’s he so stubborn when it comes to this?«, Yppha sighed after he had walked up close to Lou’s group. Beside shrugs and ignorance from the others Radeel mumbled, he tended to get overwhelmed if he was passionate about something. Each of them started their way down to the theatre and left Lou in his fascinated state. An arm slung itself around his, causing him to snap out of his trance, and someone pulled him down the hill.

»I think Radeel is wrong in putting this much trust into you. We’ll be in serious trouble if anything happens here«, Yppha said and let go of Lou’s arm when he noticed the other was following him on his own. His eyes never lay on Lou’s face while he spoke, rushing down the path to the entrance in a hurry just like the others.

»But don’t take that the wrong way«, he added after they had walked through the opening between the stalls which acted as an entrance. »I won’t be your personal guardian just to make sure you don’t try anything out of your mind. I won’t cover for you either if that idea popped up into your head. If you decide to break Radeel’s trust, I can assure you he’ll - «

»Yppha?«, Lou interrupted in a whisper, pulling on the other’s sleeve. He didn’t slow down, but Lou finally got his gaze directed at himself – which made it easier, far easier, to convince the vampire.

»I’m not thinking any of that sort. I won’t betray Radeel’s or your trust, even if you don’t believe me. And if you want me to be honest the main reason – and maybe even the only one – is because I’m too scared to even think about doing anything to go against you.«

Lou lowered his head and stopped abruptly.

»I’m more anxious about your attitude…I don’t want you to hate me, I could’ve stayed back home if my presence is such a nuisance. But now that I’m here, I don’t want to do anything wrong…and I thought you’d – usually I could rely on you helping me out…but I think I’m asking too much of you.«

He fell silent and didn’t dare to look up at Yppha’s small sigh.

»I’m not mad«, Yppha said and grabbed onto Lou’s arm to pull him forward again. »And if you had told that just now anyone different than me, your neck would probably be slit in half.« A quiet sigh interrupt his speech. »Don’t mistake me for generous, Lou.« He glanced at Lou at the pronunciation of his name before he went on. »I’m trying to avoid any type of harm as best as possible, but if it can’t be like that, I won’t offer myself as a shield in between two swords. I appreciate your trust, if your behaviour is unacceptable, however, I don’t want you to rely on it…I won’t help you out, like I said.«

They arrived at the staircase leading up to several rows of stone with seats built on them. Lou followed Yppha up to where he led him. He wasn’t sure if he should feel at ease now or be more concerned than before – he had hoped for a better outcome of his request. On a second glance, he immediately blamed his phrasing for Yppha’s response, if someone were at fault it must be himself once again. Lou had liked the idea of having a safe anchor buried in the deep ground of a wild heart, full of emotions and anxious feelings. It could’ve held him at peace maybe and one of his biggest dislikes – the uncontrollable racing of his thoughts – could’ve been eliminated with such a reassuring person to look back to. With Yppha’s answer that hollow dream had vanished.

Lou only noticed that he had slowed down when Yppha grabbed his hand. A gentle squeeze gave Lou one of his desired anchors in the end – even if it were smaller and less embattled into the ground than he truly wanted – and his thoughts slowed down. The remaining stairs led all the way up to a row rather at the end of the podiums; everything else had been occupied by other visitors. They slid into the one the others had already taken as theirs and Liu waved Lou over to a seat next to them. He sat down between them and Radeel, just as the lanterns around them went out. The stars shining brightly from above them were the only source of light making it possible for Lou to see; it was a cloudless, but also moonless night. His eyesight wasn’t being taken for long though; colourful lanterns appeared on the stage at the bottom. They swung around in grand manners and connected to long, majestic creatures unknown to Lou.

A quiet, content puff to Lou’s right caught his attention and Radeel’s lips playing around with a small smile were revealed to him. He had been staring at Lou for a while and sensed his lips starting to twirl upwards on their own as he watched Lou’s eyes growing bigger and sparkier. After Radeel had given his attention to the stage play again, Lou’s own eyes wandered back to the same place.

There was a story being told although none of the actors pronounced any words. There was music of course, just like Lou had heard and expected there to be, but the sung content flying above the instrumental melody, was undecipherable to Lou’s ears. He tried making out any words from the clear voices singing single tunes and syllables, but his mind soon grew bored of it and dedicated itself to the scene being played. Lanterns and other brightly burning strings formed some creature he perceived as a dragon. There was a second one, but it seemed like it was out of reach and only appeared in the background once before completely disappearing. Then the lights formed landscapes – beautiful, detailed pictures of places varying from mountains to the sea – and the dragon was flying high above them, meeting different creatures at each of those places. Lou believed there was some quest or task the creatures gave the dragon, but he never found out what exactly it had been before the dragon flew off. At some point, the dragon reached a cave and another bigger, monstrous dragon slithered out of it, in the back Lou spotted the dragon from the beginning and then the stage went black. The lanterns around their seats were ignited again and the rows were emptied one by one.

»I hate breaks«, Deengar mumbled and fell back against the stones of the row behind them. Human actors needed breaks, Taeslir explained – or more reminded considering the tone he spoke with. All he got was an unaccepting, apathetic “useless”.

»Do we need to stand up like the others?«, Liu asked and clinged onto Lou’s arm once more. Taeslir wanted to get some souvenirs and Lax said, he’d go downstairs to take a closer look at the well-lit stage, but everyone else could stay behind. As if he’d been cursed, Lou’s stomach growled audible enough to let everyone surrounding him know. His eyes widened and he stared at Radeel with a look of horror.

»I…I haven’t eaten anything before we drove here…sorry«, Lou mumbled and looked down to his lap.

»Do you have some money to spare for our boy, Taeslir?«, Radeel requested after a short laugh and took a few notes from Taeslir’s hands. The next question – after Taeslir and Lax had walked away – arose from the same person who wanted to know, who was going to come with him to one of the stalls. Deengar volunteered and stated, he’d want to make sure he doesn’t run away (he also started a slight dispute with Radeel who took it as an insult of his own abilities in doing so).

»I don’t think any of you knows what’s eatable so I should be coming too«, Yppha mentioned. »And it’s not like we can just let him walk up to one of the stalls himself.«

»We’ll just take the one with names of food on it«, Deengar said and glanced at Radeel to gain an agreeing nod.

»And that would be?«, Yppha asked and crossed his arms over his chest. Deengar’s proud expression faded away and he looked at Radeel again – hoping for a helpful answer instead of searching for acknowledgement. To his bad, Radeel’s joyful smile came to an end just as well.

They ordered Liu to stay behind and walked down the stairs to one of the stalls. Lou was placed in the middle of them at all times; he wondered if their behaviour seemed like guarding to the people around them as well. Through quick, affirmative glances to some of them passing by, Lou figured they didn’t have the slightest clue – not about vampires walking among them and not about the situation he was in. Lou admitted, he’d not be much different in their position, either; suspicion didn’t lie in a human’s basic instincts after all. Nobody’d think about anything strange occurring in a place like this; nothing seemed out of the ordinary to any of them, therefore.

Most of the seats had already been taken and the only places that were left appeared to be a few high tables at the side. Their placement didn’t seem too unwelcomed, Radeel even headed for the furthest one away from the crowd. Yppha went off to browse through the stalls’ offerings while Deengar and Radeel positioned themselves next and opposite to him at the table. Neither of them spoke a word and the situation increasingly added to Lou’s overthinking; guilt crept into his mind.

»I’m sorry…for the bother«, he mumbled and stared at his hands. Their eyes were rarely a place he felt comfortable with since they often held more emotion than Lou had regularly seen with his kind.

Radeel assured Lou, there were nothing to worry, and leaned onto the table with his arms. He desired Lou’s eyes on him if he raised his voice though, and almost immediately Lou’s gaze shot up – just did the promise he had made with Radeel earlier that day. Anger had developed from Lou’s frightened state many times that morning; his head simply didn’t want to stay up high whenever he had asked anything. Too much fear circulated through his mind and muscles, silently telling him he'd be punished and excluded from their little trip if he acted even the slightest bit undesirable. Radeel was bothered by his behaviour and ordered him to stop, he’d been with them long enough to drop that kind of disrespect.

»How do you even get to money?«, Lou asked with his chin held in place this time, he figured he’d need a different starter for a conversation if he wanted to keep it going.

»Do you honestly think we’d just let the small houses you store your source of surviving in rot after we raid a city?«, Radeel questioned instead of answering and Lou’s sight dropped to the table in embarrassment – only to jerk back up as he noticed the motion. Lou answered, he thought there was an easier way of attaining it.

»Like earning? How’s that easier than stealing in any way?«, Deengar threw in his opinion and attracted the others’ eyes. »Not that we’d care for those meaningless papers you created out of nowhere.«

»Sometimes money can prove itself handy though«, Radeel admitted – his attention back on Lou. »Blending in with the crowd rather than causing an uproar…if you understand.«

»How do you usually trade and classify then?«, Lou wanted to know and froze shortly when the same answer came out of each of their mouths; Power.

»Which does cause uncivilised and destructive behaviour« Yppha added as he had arrived at the table just soon enough to overhear the last few bits of the conversation. He placed a plate filled up with some potatoes and a small piece of meat. Some salad seemed to be served with it, or Lou guessed for the greenish, red blob to be lettuce – the lightening was poor this far away from the illuminated centre.

They argued over what Yppha had said for some time while Lou began poking at his food. When they dropped the topic, their centre of attention turned out to be Lou once more. Right as he decided on speaking up again, to at least form a situation where their eyes didn’t feel unpleasant on him, Deengar piped up and mentioned what Radeel had said in the carriage earlier.

»I wanted to tell them on the way back«, Radeel explained since the statement very much resembled the question on how he’d get the others’ approval to the plan.

»So, we’ll change places on the way back?« Yppha asked.

»Yes, but Deengar already knows, so he and Lax can stay in a carriage with him.«, Radeel’s eyes fell upon Lou for a second before he turned back to Yppha. »And I don’t think Liu will need to know about it until just the moment before we start…they’d agree anyway, so it’s up to them where they would like to stay.«

»I could tell the others’ just as well«, Deengar suggested and was instantly told off by Yppha, saying he shared Lax’ opinion and wouldn’t share a carriage with him and Taeslir. The volume of Deengar’s voice rose significantly as he readied himself to complain about their behaviour, but Radeel cut him off. He’d need to get over it and shouldn’t traumatise Lou during those awaiting two hours. Radeel’s burning eyes prevented Deengar from protesting any further.

»I’m sure he can keep quiet for two hours, so there won’t be any bothersome remarks I’d need to discipline.«

»It’s not like you were the one who constantly spoke of boredom.«

Deengar’s eyes widened and Yppha audibly chuckled – even Lou had to hide his smile by lowering his head and shoving another bite into his mouth. The dish hadn’t seemed to be much or satisfying, but now that he was almost done with it his stomach was more than filled.

They all went back to their place just as Lou had eaten up and a loud chime rang through the atmosphere – announcing the start of the second act. Taeslir had already returned and Liu had lay down on the benches; they shifted back into place when Lou and the others arrived and soon Lax returned from down below. The lights went out again and the familiar scene from before appeared on the stage.

The musical accompaniment intensified as the scene played itself out. It matched the movements of the two dragons – which also seemed to gain in movements and energy: two completely different ones. The known dragon flew around swiftly and graciously and mostly dodged the other dragon’s jumpy and vicious attacks. Lou finally understood the scenario; they were fighting over the dragon in the back. There seemed to be no chance of winning for the good dragon – the other dragon’s music seemed livelier and stronger than his and at some point, it appeared as if he had lost. The creature sailed to the floor and stayed in that position, the music slowly dying out. Just before it had completely silenced, however, the dragon shot back up and landed a successful hit on his opponent; victory was his. The captured dragon and he reunited and flew off into distance, passing the faint resembles of the earlier shown landscapes while doing so.

As the end of the play was clear applause echoed through the theatre and some people were arising from their seats. The vampires and Lou did the same, but solely for dragging him outside, leaving earlier than the rest. Liu said, they’d want to know what Radeel had been talking about, so they got into the same carriage as him, Yppha and Taeslir. Like Radeel had mentioned he sat inside one with Deengar and Lax wherefore silence welcomed him as they drove off. Deengar had occupied a whole bench for himself why Lou didn’t have another choice but sit next to Lax, not that he minded, his silent – harmless – state was appreciated. Also, with Lax on board, Deengar didn’t suggest any of previous ideas.

As a thought popped up in Lou’s mind, he decided to ask Lax for permission; his head turn towards him after he had heard his name.

»What did you like about the play? I mean…there must’ve been a reason why you wanted to go so desperately…«

Deengar’s gaze flickered towards him as well; something about the question had sparked his curiosity.

»It’s the charm it holds. I’ve been to many plays in the past and seeing what inventive thoughts humans can come up with grew on me with time«, Lax answered. The question didn’t seem to bother him, his tone casual and low, but as his statement caused Deengar to snort from across them, his eyes darkened.

»That almost makes it sound like you hold any dear feelings for them. Never thought I’d hear something like that out of your mouth«, Deengar laughed and averted his eyes to the panelling in front of him – his hand pressed against his mouth to keep himself from laughing any longer.

»Not every human creation is bad…not even in my eyes«, Lax explained sternly and although Deengar flipped him off with a wave of his hand, he presented his opinion till the end. »My hatred for them doesn’t alter just because I enjoy a few of their inventions.«

»If you say that…sure thing.«

Lax sighed in defeat; his nerves really didn’t have the strength to deal with Deengar’s defensiveness. They dropped the topic, but Lax spoke up again and asked Lou, why he’d wanted to know and if he didn’t like it.

»No, no I did, I’ve never seen anything of the sort. It was breath-taking«, he admitted, looked away for a moment and then back at Lax. »And its just…I’m sorry for the phrasing, but I couldn’t find a reason as to why you’d show interest in something created by mankind.«

»See, even he thinks you and Taeslir are crazy for enjoying that«, Deengar laughed again. Lou yelled, he never said that and didn’t mean it like that, in panic; Lax swung his hand around lazily and silenced him.

»I think – unlike you – he withholds a sense of art, just like Taeslir«, Lax claimed and stared at Deengar who didn’t give him a single glance before he turned back to Lou. Just because something were created by another race didn’t mean he couldn’t show his interest in it, he stated. Humans engaged with stories about his kind too after all. Lou nodded understandingly and they went back to silence – for the rest of their ride.

The blindfold was wrapped around his head when they arrived and just as he had stumbled his way out of the carriage, Radeel placed himself in front of him. Ordering him to grab onto his shoulders, Lou was heaved onto his back and Radeel walked off. Again, being robbed of his eyesight Lou tried to dedicate his attention to his other, available senses; the refreshing wind on his cheeks which had turned chilly over their way back and the rattling of the carriages driving off behind them. The way upstairs lasted shorter with Lou on Radeel’s back and as they arrived in their inhabited flat, Lou was put down and the blindfold removed.

Liu jumped onto him the moment the cloth had left his head and clung to his waist tightly. Lou put his arms around them although he felt a bit fluttered at their sudden affection.

»He behaved like we told him to«, Liu smiled and pulled on Lou strongly. In response, Lou chuckled lightly – even if it were more out of pain from Liu crushing his ribs than replying to their statement.

»But he seems tired, I don’t know if he can handle the reward right now«, Taeslir mentioned and stepped a bit closer, removing Liu’s arms from Lou’s body.

»I’m not even sure if he’d see it as a reward. Shouldn’t we wait?«, Yppha added and put his arms around Lou’s shoulders carefully to lock eyes with him. By turning him around slowly, Yppha made sure he was awake and of sound mind before Lou faced Radeel when Yppha had stopped rotating him.

»It’s our last chance before we leave for a few days…and it’s no fun with one person missing«, Radeel said after he had stepped closer and pulled on Lou’s chin gently. His latter statement had been directed at Yppha who appeared to be thinking of refusing in Radeel’s eyes. As he earned himself a small, assured nod, Radeel smilingly turned towards Lou once more.

»Last chance f-for what?«, Lou whispered and took a shaky breath as someone else’s hands found their place around his waist – a revealing glance being out of hand with Radeel’s fingers preventing any movement.

»Should we use the room?«, Deengar questioned and turned Lou’s head towards him with his own hand. Lou’s breathing immensely increased – both in velocity and uneasiness – as they led him towards the place Deengar had been talking about. From behind he could pick up Taeslir mumbling, he didn’t even remember the last time they’d willingly used it. Liu chuckled, if there were enough space for a sixth person at all.

After the door to an unknown room – just opposite of Radeel’s – had been opened, Lou was pushed inside; and with him any last thought of doubt regarding its already expected inside. It was less noble or glorious than Lou had imagined, but its purpose –a huge mattress at the far end and a few pillows placed on it – was presented to Lou clear as day. The group spread out and lit some candles and lanterns on the walls. Their faint light revealed a couple of cabinets to Lou’s eyes; as well as a mirror placed next to one of them. However, Lou’s current interest didn’t lie in them. His heartbeat desired for another threat to be stilled. Radeel had pushed him onto the mattress and with his coat and shoes already missing from him, Lou realized his words wouldn’t have any effect on their proceedings (he had tried mumbling some shy remarks and questions, but they were either overheard or ignored). Thus, Lou jolted forwards and buried his face in Radeel’s blouse – the shaking of his arms no longer able to supress.

»Lou…hey, Lou«, Radeel whispered and took Lou’s hands into his. Even though Lou was leaned forward and onto his shoulder, he managed to push him off far enough to look into his eyes – a tender pull on his chin had been needed, however.

»It’s not going to hurt«, Radeel said and squeezed his hand with the intention of making Lou perceive his words as a promise. Lips had already been parted though; Lou took an attempt to object, but the pressure on his throat kept him from doing so and he was pulled back. His head rested against Deengar’s collarbone as the failed pronunciation of words turned into a quiet whimper. When Liu joined them – Radeel had leaned over him as well and placed his lips onto him just as Deengar had – Lou’s last string teared and a small sob escaped his lips.

In the same instant everyone pulled away and Lou found himself against Radeel’s chest again – differing from earlier, he had been pulled onto it. A hand capped his cheek, and he sensed a thumb sliding over the wet spot under his eye before his chin was lifted.

»Don’t cry…nothing happened yet« Radeel mumbled and moved his knuckles across his other eye bag. Lou choked out, he was scared, and grabbed Radeel’s arm weakly. A sigh was heard, but Lou was still pulled back up with the same carefulness as before and stared into Radeel’s eyes.

»There are no blindfolds or ropes or any other type of restraint, okay?«, Radeel reassured Lou and placed his hand on his shoulder. He held him upwards by it and softly caressed his exposed skin with his thumb. »We’re not giving you a choice, I know, but we’ll make sure it won’t be to your disliking.«

Lou sniffed one last time and lowered his head to get away from the bright red dots looking down on him. A weak nod showed his understanding and his fingers slipped of Radeel’s arm – no hesitation of the others followed. By closing his eyes, Lou pursued his idea of drowning out the situation he was in; he’d simply feel. The forceful hands roaming over him; removing his cloths in the same going and the soft lips running over his neck, jawline and chest – they left wet marks wherever their journey brought them.

Involuntarily, his eyelids rose and the ceiling was captured by Lou’s eyes – Deengar had scratched over his shoulder blade abruptly. Not harsh enough to draw blood, his claws hadn’t been used either, but the pressure exerted by his nails alone sufficed in making Lou jump slightly. The action wasn’t painful – neither was the hand on the side of his head pressing him against his own shoulder. They’d kept their word for now, Lou mused and observed the other missing two to his right; they had both undressed as well. Yppha pushed Taeslir until his back hit the mattress before their lips collided. There was an energetic fight over dominance displaying itself; Taeslir was unwilling to submit and showed exactly that by pushing himself upwards repeatedly. Yppha neither forced him to lay low nor did he resort to violence in taking the upper hand – both just pushed against each other, unable to find a winner.

Radeel had pushed Lou’s legs apart in the meantime and caught his attention accordingly. No refusal was conveyed by Lou’s movements, he just stemmed his arm into the mattress next to him and clenched his hand around the tight sheets. The intention to stop Lou from doing so didn’t emerge wherefore Radeel traced his fingers over Lou’s thighs without forcing him to let go of the sheets. In fact, his grip on them tightened the closer his fingers came to Lou’s entrance. Every time, shortly before they could reach that spot, however, Radeel froze and went back up again. He repeated the action for a while and watched Lou tensing up under his touch. Deengar had pulled him into his lap earlier and he was bend into a lying position – thus, his muscles didn’t have the strength to flinch away, he’d simply plump down if he tried. As the shaking of Lou’s legs eventually grew heavier, his voice began to rise just as well and Radeel’s hand finally moved to the desired place. Just as it reached it, any movement around his hole stopped though.

»Let me do that«, Liu asked and pushed their arm through the space under Lou’s knee and placed their hand beside Radeel’s. One of their fingers slid inside and Lou noticed some smeary, wet substance on it as Liu twirled it. Radeel leaned over him while Liu spread the liquid on his walls and his lips placed themselves on his neck once. He moved further up the next instance and motioned Deengar to look at him. They shared a few sloppy kisses and Liu slowly added another finger to spread Lou apart. The way they did it was more enjoyable than his previous preparations with Taeslir or Deengar; experiences clearly showed in their precise movements.

»Get him loose a bit faster, Liu«, Deengar commanded after he and Radeel had pulled away a moment. »The two of them are growing tired over there.«

Yppha and Taeslir had given up on fighting over dominance. Strokes from each of them were given to the other, just to increase each other’s pleasure in some way; not really thought out and definitely not satisfying enough to get them anywhere.

»Not the best pair it seems«, Radeel murmured, clinging onto Deengar’s neck by his lips. The addition of Radeel’s teeth lightly deepening on Deengar’s skin, formed a stronger grip on Lou’s upper body. With the command telling Radeel to stop on his lips, Deengar forced Lou’s head onto his shoulder.

A claw followed the sensitive trail from his neck up the front of his throat before it rested on the bottom of his chin. Deengar held him captured in that position while Radeel slid down to his neck and collarbone. Two fingers drew a circle over his nipple – he couldn’t detect whom the movement belonged to, however. Liu had been busy on his lower half similarly; Lou’s legs wanted to close themselves at the feeling of three fingers thrusting in and out of him – Radeel’s position took that possibility from him.

»He seems dissatisfied«, Yppha mentioned and their hands slowed down for a moment. A tremulous whine had erupted earlier – causing Yppha’s assumption – because Lou’s lack in moving along to the strokes and touches pained him, physically and mentally.

Deengar suggested, they should do something against it then, and let his hand fall to Lou’s side. The rising of Lou’s chest strengthened once more as Deengar moved away, his back landing on the mattress. Lou had turned his head to the side when he had hit the soft pillow. Yppha and Taeslir who had both stopped moving could be observed; they separated as Radeel mumbled something that passed by as incomprehensible to Lou’s ears.

A familiar, horrific feeling popped up in his mind; breathing and tear sac reacted to it. Lou’s courage to turn his head and watch their proceedings had vanished into nothingness as usual as well. Their shifting and position changing was the only thing he couldn’t escape: Liu’s fingers removing themselves, Radeel pushing away and Yppha taking his place instead – all was noticed, all aided that feeling in spreading even faster. It reached its peak almost – pushed Lou over the edge almost – hadn’t the gentle touch on his ribcage kept him from drifting away with it. His name was said together with the request to look at the person talking – Lou obeyed.

»We’ve got to make this more interactable. Otherwise, he’ll figuratively slip through our fingers«, Yppha said and glanced at Radeel to his side, ensuring he understood the urgency of his statement. He locked eyes with Lou the next instant again and his hand brushed over him once more.

»Telling him what we’ll do, that shit again?«, Deengar complained and got into Lou’s sight. Liu was inconsistent with Deengar’s view and claimed, it weren’t stupid at all.

»We’ll just tell him and boom! Then we can do it«, they smiled. Deengar, on the other hand, stated his discontent with that measurement, it took away the fun part if he knew what was coming all along.

»You…don’t have to tell me«, Lou piped up and unconsciously clenched his fist around the sheets as their eyes lay upon him – they appeared intimidating and out of his reach from his position. »Just…don’t go too fast. I need to adapt.«

»Oh…he got us all wrong guys«, Deengar half breathed, half laughed and threw his leg over Lou’s waist. From that position on his stomach, he leaned forward and brushed past Lou’s ear shell when he stopped. »Radeel’s intention was never a fast and quick pleasure…right?« He turned his head towards the mentioned person, his face nearly planted on Lou’s cheek.

»We’ll savour it«, Radeel smirked, moving out from behind Deengar. He licked over his upper lip once.

»Make it pleasurable for all of us«, Yppha added and slid his hand in between Lou’s thighs.

»He’ll be reminded of his place«, Taeslir threw in, leaning up on his elbow to face the others.

»It’s our gift after all, we can enjoy him as much as we want«, Liu smiled and tapped their fingertips across Lou’s groin.

»And we’ll leave that gift empty and in bliss when we are done. Nothing but exhaustion left to think about«, Deengar finished.

»Shall we then?«

Their actions left no space for Lou’s mind processing their statements aiming to lull him into obedience – they fulfilled their purpose. He tensed at Yppha pushing inside of him; slowly, but steadily he kept going and calmly stroked over Lou’s legs squeezing around him. Liu had wandered down to his cock – their fingers more toying with him than actually moving for a certain aim – and Lou hissed as their lazy twirls still caused him to shiver.

Radeel had asked Deengar, if he should go down on Taeslir, while Lou had been occupied with the mentioned two starting their work on him. He’d need to drill him into submissiveness, Deengar had answered, they’d not have time for it later. Taeslir had sent him a piercing glare – wanted to open his mouth to spit some (bratty, as Deengar had called it when he had noticed) complaint – but that look vanished as soon as Radeel forced himself atop of him. Unlike Yppha beforehand, Radeel stole any possible attempt of repulsion, Taeslir didn’t even have the option of escaping left – hands and waist trapped by Radeel.

Any form of refusal was taken from Lou as well; Deengar had made his move at last. Lou’s chin was held up slightly and Deengar moved his cock to the front of his face. Their eyes connected for a second – Lou’s glinting with a terrified, begging glassiness – and Lou lifted his hand to get a hold of Deengar’s wrist. Before he could reach it, Deengar caught it in his own and pushed it down onto the mattress next to him.

»I won’t choke you«, Deengar said reassuringly when Lou’s fingers cramped around the back of his hand and his facial features had started to tremble. His thumb slid over Lou’s bottom lip and he tried pulling his mouth open. His patience wasn’t the mightiest of Deengar’s strengths, therefore, when Lou didn’t answer to his touch like he wanted a short hiss of Liu’s name happened. The deliberate touch on Lou’s dick by one of their fingers, forced a gasp for air out of him and Deengar took action.

Lou couldn’t move one bit – not that he needed to with Deengar bouncing up and down on his own – but he felt the corners of his eyes swell up with tears as he went on for a while. Yppha had also began to thrust inside – it didn’t hurt; his current state of fright didn’t allow him to find the pleasure in his action though. The grip on his hand suddenly tightened and Deengar moved up and out of his throat.

»Eyes up here«, Deengar ordered and motioned to his own purple orbs before he buried his fingers into Lou’s hair. He stayed like that for a second and as he pushed down again Lou’s eyes closed and he tried to get rid of the thought of his saliva running down his chin. Deengar yanked his head backwards. The action was demanding enough to cause Lou’s eyes to flutter open – out of surprise, not pain.

»Eyes. Up. Here.«, Deengar repeated, pushing inside. »Breathe…«

He moved back up and finally had Lou’s attention captivated. His hand moved down to cap the side of Lou’s head and he spoke again.

»Breathe in.« He pushed down. »Hold.« He moved back up. »And out.«

Deengar repeated that line once more before he stayed up on his knees and willingly stared into Lou’s eyes again. He did only that for a couple of shared breaths before he leaned forward, getting into position.

»Good…now find your own rhythm, just don’t breathe in when I’m inside«, Deengar said, squeezed Lou’s hand once more and let himself sink down. »And move you – ugh.«

Lou’s tongue slithered around Deengar’s shaft. The action was to Deengar’s liking, but it prevented Lou from always keeping up his rhythm; he choked a few times. The pace Deengar had chosen didn’t slow down if that happened, Lou had to manage on his own. After some more failed attempts, a technique was revealed to Lou’s mind and his fear ceased – the pleasure given to him on the rest of his body was invited to his senses as well. He moaned at Yppha’s thrusts pushing right into places he desired; he flinched at some harsh moves of Deengar’s hips hitting the back of his throat; but relaxed again through Liu’s soft, coordinated (this time) strokes on his dick. Pleasure overtook him at last and the horror of the scenario from before slowly left his mind – his eyes closed.

»Can I push inside him, Deengar?«, Radeel questioned from the side. Taeslir had been turned into a desperate bundle of arousal underneath his touch. His hands clawed at Radeel’s chest once, trying to pull him down and onto him in vain; Radeel trapped them between his own and the mattress once more.

»Just don’t let him come«, Deengar answered – Lou noticed a slight shake in his voice just before he took another deep breath and sunk down his throat again. Taeslir’s groans and a bunch of dissatisfied whines then spread throughout the room. A similar sound escaped Lou’s lips, muffled by Deengar’s dick it reached Yppha’s ears and he picked up his pace.

They all moved in unison once more and drove Lou’s heartrate and thoughts over the edge. His fingers enclosed around Deengar’s hand tightly when Yppha pounded into his prostate over and over. Each of them mumbled something inaudibly – Lou because of the gagging piece inside him and Yppha’s wasn’t hearable due to the distance between them.

Liu’s hand didn’t stop the strokes around him as Lou came with a slight arch of his back. He noticed Deengar’s pushes getting stronger while he moaned at Yppha spilling himself inside him; they didn’t seem to suffice to get him over the edge, however. The cock left his mouth and Lou gasped for air needily.

Deengar sat down next to him and as Yppha moved away as well, his legs closed and fell to the side tiredly. Taeslir whined as last one when Radeel pulled out of him, but in contrast to Lou he pushed himself up to his knees and hands, crawling towards Deengar.

»Did Radeel go to hard on you…poor thing«, Deengar asked and brought his hand up to rest on Taeslir’s head. There was a tremble accompanying him in his movements and he seemed close to tears as he held onto Deengar’s arm. He’d just need to tell him, Deengar smirked and sat up to place his lips onto Taeslir’s neck.

»Fuck…me«, Taeslir whispered awkwardly next to Deengar’s ear. The volume didn’t matter though; since it was the only spoken content it was audible to everyone present. A small beg had to be added before Deengar rushed on Taeslir and they fell back onto the mattress.

Radeel had taken the place between Lou’s legs while he hadn’t noticed and pulled him entirely towards him in one go. A gasp later their eyes locked and Lou blinked more than needed when his back was lifted from the mattress. He stemmed his palms against it, but the material – too soft to let Lou’s attempt be called helpful – gave in under his weight, his action being very much a useless waste of energy. Yppha was asked to place himself by Lou’s head.

»You really want to do that?«, Taeslir asked after Deengar had flipped him over, letting him notice the position Lou was in. Deengar agreed, Taeslir had hardly managed that one once.

»Yppha will handle it just fine on the other side«, Radeel said, but none of them seemed completely convinced – not even Yppha himself. Lou slid down a little as one of Radeel’s hands left his leg to pull Yppha towards him. He should take some joy in using Lou, he’d been the one who had to take care of him over the last few days after all, Radeel breathed and let go of the back of Yppha’s neck. He pulled Lou’s leg up to his hip again.

»I see no value in letting him suffer, Radeel…«, Yppha claimed while he was crawling over to Lou’s head anyway.

»That’s why I want you to do this…instead of them«, Radeel answered and glanced at Deengar who was already pounding against Taeslir from behind. Yppha nodded affirmatively and consent to Radeel’s request – he told him to wait a second longer within the next move to the back of Lou’s head.

»You trust me?«, Yppha breathed as he looked down on Lou and placed Lou’s right hand on top of his. A certain, hectic nod was responded, words noticeably missing from Lou’s capacities of reacting – or simply from his denied fear of what awaited him. Yppha smiled and squeezed Lou’s fingers tightly once. »Three presses on my hand if you want to stop…that also counts for what Radeel does.« A brief look of approval between them fulfilled more than a verbal communication and Lou also mumbled a quiet sentence of understanding.

Liu was ordered to make it enjoyable and calm Lou for the first few moments; they jumped into place and lay hands and mouth carefully onto Lou’s torso. Radeel pulled on the legs around him once again, was determined to hold them strongly by Lou’s ankles behind his back and Lou felt his tip pressing against him. A single thrust inside – without stopping and at aching angle – sucked the stored air out of his lungs and Lou gasped at the sensation. Since solely his shoulders touched the mattress, his chest was at loss of a rhythm when he breathed rapidly. It felt like his lungs widened both forward and back to his spine. He felt like a balloon reluctant of filling up; whenever he managed to puff up, everything was sucked out of him the next instant. Radeel’s ruthless thrusts into him were everything but helpful on top of that.

»Lou?«, Yppha whispered from above him, but his voice didn’t reach Lou’s consciousness. He stared off onto one spot on the ceiling, clinging onto it as a last resort. A hand on his chest changed that; Yppha pushed down gently, held still a bit and moved up. He repeated that motion, talking similarly to Deengar earlier.

»First thing we gonna teach him when we come back is how to fucking breathe«, Deengar commented on Lou losing his control like earlier. Yppha managed to get the other to relax faster than Deengar had; Lou’s breathing had steadied again. With another last squeeze Yppha reminded Lou of their rule and he slowly lowered himself, Lou opening his mouth without second thought. His intended carefully push turned into a surprised, fast thrust as soon as Lou’s lips had wrapped around him.

»He hasn’t felt a human mouth around him yet…thought he could go easy on him«, Taeslir laughed from his and Deengar’s position. They had full view on everything that was happening (which added to both their arousal, although unadmitted by both). The amused expression on Taeslir’s neck faded, however, when Deengar clawed at his neck and teared his head upwards. A groan dripped from his lips and Deengar increased the pressure on Taeslir’s throat and the strongness of his thrusts.

»Go and suck on something if that’s the only thing on your mind then«, Deengar growled and pushed Taeslir forward to push him down on Lou’s cock hanging freely in front of his eyes.

Yppha had took up a fast pace, but kept it merciful enough to not make breathing completely impossible. His attention was slowly drifting away – he wanted to focus on the pleasure contributing to another erection alone. With every weak press on his hand, he was reminded to keep an eye on Lou just whenever he felt close to letting loose though. His fingers enclosed around Lou’s reassuringly; he had given him his word.

Lou’s volume increased eventually; a mix of moans and cries sounded muffled through the atmosphere. To his own ears, nothing else was exposed: his own mouth stretched around Yppha pushing into him and slabbery muffles erupted from it. The sound he was enveloped with whenever Radeel slammed into him was a wet slap caused by what was running down his back (coming from his hole) since there wasn’t any force holding it inside him any longer. (Radeel’s flaps against him were close to being painful. His legs stretched awfully far behind his back and every pull when another push inside was performed left a throbbing shake almost everywhere down his hip.) Additionally, Taeslir filled the remaining place with moaned slurps and Liu’s small, but effective kisses over Lou’s upper body were mostly drowned out.

He had been reduced to a toy; there to use, there to be abused.

Tears flowed down his temples as everyone added some pace to their movements. Again, they were not flowing out of pain but of pure frustration. The situation pained not his body – that part of him enjoyed it more than anything – what was causing him suffering was his pride. Broken and demolished by exactly those who brought him so much joy at the same time. But just as every other time as well; his own doings were just as sinful and damaging. He wanted his hand to perform those three tight squeezes, had already told it to do so even, but at last second – where it another thrust, stroke, lick or push to his throat – his hand stopped. Another deeper moan arising from his chest and his fingers only clenching around Yppha’s hand once. He liked it.

His release took longer and his mind was racing when it happened with Taeslir still on top of him. Radeel’s angle changed one last time before the pressure around him became unbearable and he released as well. Deengar came inside Taeslir and Yppha had pulled away in the last possible moment – merely a small load dropped onto the side of Lou’s face.

He slid down as Radeel let go of his ankles and his back hit the mattress. Pulling his legs up to his chest was out of question, they went limb the second Radeel’s hands weren’t on them anymore. Eyes closed – tiredness had claimed them just as well – but a sudden touch on his abdomen made him flinch. Deengar had leaned onto his elbows and was lazily tracing some lines onto Lou’s skin.

»You can’t be done already…«, he murmured and looked up at Radeel who was trying to catch his breath just like the others.

»I didn’t have my turn yet«, Liu piped in and took away Radeel’s chance of responding. They crawled closer and took a look at Lou’s bloodshot eyes.

»No, stop…stop«, Lou whined and jerked his head to the side at Deengar’s hand around his cock. »Don’t want to…please.«

»Still not fucked enough to be a thoughtless pet«, Taeslir mumbled from somewhere low on the mattress. »Radeel didn’t do him right…«

»Will you repeat that?«, Radeel breathed and pulled Taeslir up by his neck.

Deengar seemed unbothered by their dispute as well as Lou’s pathetic plea. With another stroke on Lou’s dick, he asked Liu, if they could manage to let him want another round. He’d want his way once more just as well. Actions instead of an answer followed and Liu was on top of Lou instantly. Their hand clenched around the sheets right next to Lou’s head as they leaned forwards.

»Be a good pet, ‘kay?«, they smiled and moved up to sit down on Lou’s face. No further complaint followed – Lou had given up and submitted to their will, Liu was the last one he wanted to mess with. They rocked their hips forth a little when Lou’s tongue slid in between their lips and tightened the grip on the sheets that were mostly pulled off at the edges by now. Some orders to keep going arrived with an increasement in their small pushes and Lou gasped when a hand was wrapped around his length additionally.

»Drive him over the edge, Liu«, Deengar said and massaged his fingers into Lou’s balls. Both did as he wanted – Liu getting desperate in jumping up and down and Lou moaning and sending vibrations up their body by that.

They climaxed faster than Lou had thought, but to another of his surprises they kept moving afterwards. Just when Radeel decided to pull them off – having noticed Lou’s discomfort and problems with breathing – they plumped down on the mattress.

»Fine, Deengar you wanted your turn. Yppha’s going to help me with our little kitten here who has been missing out a little till now«, Radeel said and pushed Liu into position (which was diagonally across the mattress).

»Shouldn’t we let Lou rest after all…I mean –«, Yppha suggested, but was interrupted by another source of noise.

»Do that…again – more, more…I can’t…«

»Look, he broke«, Deengar stated, praising it as if it was his work alone. They didn’t need any other form of affirmation and simply moved into places. Taeslir and Deengar had agreed to try something similar to Lou’s first time with them, just that Lou was holding himself up with his hands and knees today.

»Put…put it in, please«, Lou whined as they held him still to shift into places. Hadn’t Lou been completely out of mind then he would’ve known better than to just say such a thing outright to Deengar – the ruthless slam against his ass led to a scream. Taeslir silenced him by shoving himself inside of him and noticed he didn’t even have to move for Lou to slide off and onto him, Deengar’s harsh pull on his hips was enough.

»Let’s make this as rememberable as possible. I want to see some bruises on him«, Deengar groaned and pressed his fingers deeper into Lou’s skin, holding him right at the bones underneath.

Radeel figured their method would take some time to get Lou to feel anything that could be described as pleasurable and therefore dedicate his hands and attention towards Liu. Deengar had flipped Lou around earlier so that he was kneeling across the vampire on the mattress and all Radeel could do from that position was to lift their hips and bury himself inside them. Their face was hidden, but the high-pitched moan sounding from the other side of the barrier still showed him another kind of satisfaction.

On top, Liu had pulled Yppha onto their face and decided to lick their way from his balls to the back of his hole. Yppha hardly pushed down on them, struggling with keeping upright was enough to deal with – and his moans of course which slowly let his breathing turn shaky. Radeel thrusted into them with all his remaining strength as well (he wouldn’t have admitted it with a lethal knife to his throat, but the end of his own power was soon to befall him).

Lou on the other hand had given up on everything; he let himself be swayed back and forth, compelled to take in Taeslir’s cock whenever he met one of those directions and Deengar’s with the other. Mind overtaken by pleasure or not, he wanted this to end and if he just held on a bit longer, they’d let him rest for sure.

»Slow down a bit Deengar, I’d like to try something«, Radeel said after some time and apologized for slowing down to Liu before he placed his hand on Lou’s cheek next to Deengar pounding into him. His fingers moved further and further towards his already stretched entrance and eventually they moved in alongside Deengar’s dick. By that action, he didn’t simply gain a moaned cry from the one he was penetrating, Deengar, too, groaned at the touch on his cock.

»Maybe we can work on that too…some stretching to fit more inside of him«, Radeel explained and ordered Deengar to pace up again. As best as he could, he added onto his rhythm on Liu as well and tried his best in sliding in and pulling on Lou’s walls whenever Deengar did.

Deengar was the first to come; the unexpected addition of Radeel’s touch on him sent his senses flying off. Lou followed and gagged on Taeslir’s cum as he didn’t pull away when he came. Liu and Radeel released almost simultaneously and for Yppha the little licks Liu could still hold up after some time weren’t enough to get him to climax – but not that he minded. One after another they flopped down on the mattress and Lou finally rolled up into a small ball. 

They didn’t say much more – nobody saw a reason for doing so – and Lou’s mind couldn’t form a proper word let alone sentence to be the one pipe up. Deengar picked up Taeslir at some point and they left the room. Yppha asked Liu if they wanted to stay at his place to rest and silently they answered that questioned by crawling into his arms. Radeel tried to get Lou to focus on him, but sighed and lifted Lou into his arms after all his attempts had failed miserably.

He placed him on the floor again when they had reached his bathroom and for another time after sex the bathtub was filled. Radeel let Lou slip into the water and moved in alongside him after he had noticed he still weren’t in any state to be trusted with a full tub of water. A possible accident by drowning wasn’t something he wanted to carry on his shoulders if it happened.

»Lou…come on…focus on my touch, the water, your breathing…it’s over«, Radeel mumbled and pulled Lou into his lap. He brushed his hair out of his face and helplessly tried to scoop some water onto his head. There was sweat all over him and Radeel was determined to not let him go to sleep uncleaned.

Lou’s breathing steadied at some point and Radeel noticed him shifting a bit in his arms.

»Don’t…go«, Lou breathed and leaned against Radeel’s collarbone. His fingers weakly brushed passed Radeel’s arms, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t get a hold of them.

»I won’t, don’t worry. Can you get some water on your hair?«

Lou fell over when Radeel’s arms were removed from his sides for a second and his head touched the water shortly. The next second, he was back safely secured by Radeel’s arms around him. Some soap was poured onto his hair and body and at the touch of Radeel running his hands over his shoulders, Lou sighed contently.

»Their tensed up, right? Come here…«, Radeel mumbled and pushed Lou off him a little to move him a bit to the side. Now, he was sitting in between his angled legs and Radeel traced his fingertips over the muscles on Lou’s shoulders and back. Lou sighed lightly if Radeel found a stiff spot and the noise gained in volume when his fingers moved over it with a bit more pressure to get rid of the knot in his muscles. He grabbed onto Radeel’s knees when another, stiffer knot appeared under Radeel’s fingers and scratched on them slightly.

Radeel kept onto that proceeding until he was eventually satisfied with the result of his massage. His arms slung around Lou’s body and he pulled him towards him in one go.

»You were amazing, you know that don’t you?«

»I don’t need praise whenever we’ve done it…I’m not a dog who just waits for its treat«, Lou whispered and held onto Radeel’s wrist ready to remove his arm from around his chest.

»I didn’t mean it like that«, Radeel answered and placed his chin on Lou’s shoulders. His fingers entangled with Lou’s hand as his strength left him and the grip on his wrist faded with Lou’s hand falling to the ground of the bathtub. »It’s validation…thought you liked that. The others have praised you as well.«

»But not if it’s just when - «

»You did an even better job at the theatre…I had thought I needed to prevent you from doing anything stupid at least once, but you behaved the whole time. As if it were completely normal to walk around with us…you seemed to enjoy yourself. Like a part of us…«, Radeel drifted off into his own words and only realised he was talking nonsense when he spotted Lou’s surprised reaction next to his cheek.

»Anyway«, he started again after he had cleared his throat. »I mentioned your performance at sleeping with us, because I don’t want you to feel bad about it.«

»What…?«, Lou expressed his disbelief.

»It was wrong in your eyes and you’re doing this to survive….but you seemed to enjoy it. You shouldn’t feel bad for liking it.«

»What are you talking about?«, Lou cried and buried his noise into Radeel’s neck. Listening made his head spin and the fact that he didn’t get a single thing Radeel said frustrated him – tears dwelling up in his eyes..

»There’s no need to feel ashamed simply because you enjoyed yourself. It’s how your body reacts…«

»What could you know about that?«, Lou spit and mumbled an apology right after as he snuggled against Radeel’s neck helplessly. Radeel ran his hand through Lou’s hair and pulled him closer; his muscles tensed up again.

»Forget what I said…I didn’t mean to make you cry«, Radeel whispered and hushed Lou tenderly. They stayed in that position until Lou’s tears stopped flowing eventually and the trembling body in Radeel’s arms went limb. As he got up with Lou sleeping soundly in his arms, he wiped the back of his hand over his own cheek – the salty, wet drop sticking to it once he had done so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who sees this: Please forgive me my sins.


	7. Bonus Chapter: Taeslir and Deengar Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> QUICK NOTE: IMPORTANT
> 
> Okay, so this isn't really a chapter update. I just haven't uploaded in some time and I wanted some short smut i could finish in one go. So take this thingy I wrote in two hours, yayy. 
> 
> This is set after Deengar's and Taeslir's punishment for Lou in chapter 2.

»Look at you being all whiny and desperate…such a pain in the ass«, Deengar mumbled and threw the door shut with the back of his foot. He had carried Taeslir up to his room, still fully naked and with unfulfilled arousal circulating around their bodies. Both men shared such feelings, although Taeslir was affected much more than the other; his fingers had found their place between his cheeks again. They merely toyed around – couldn’t get farther than that – since Deengar had grabbed his wrist once more when he noticed the action.

»You should be ashamed of yourself. You couldn’t even get off out there without touching yourself«, Deengar said and held Taeslir’s arm far away enough to let any sensitive places be out of his reach. »As soon as your clothes are off you turn into a pathetic slut.«

»I’m not a – «

»What was that?«, Deengar smirked. He hadn’t let Taeslir finish his statement, the reason being that Deengar knew better than believing his miserable attempt at convincing him of something wrong. The small moan which had interrupted Taeslir – and which also sounded from the same person’s chest – had proven Deengar’s assumption; he had touched his dick. Briefly, softly and merely once.

He leaned forward moving his hand further down and letting it rest around Taeslir’s balls at the end. A single word echoed right next to Taeslir’s ear. It send waves of heat and another flood of excitement over him – the denial of the position Deengar had labelled him impossible any longer.

»Slut.«

Deengar had moved away the second Taeslir’s aroused voice was released next to his ear shell. There was no further command needed – they used the same technique almost every time, the same starter to get each of them going or the ending to finally get them over the edge. Taeslir had stood up and sprinted over to the wall; his hands finding their way over his head and pressing against the cold area behind him. The chains hanging next to him were taken into hand by Deengar, but before they closed around Taeslir’s wrists his hip was taken into Deengar’s other hand and he was spun around. The small locks clicked quietly as they were pushed into place around Taeslir’s arms and the other chains connecting them with the floor were pulled down, his arms stretching up to the ceiling.

»Out of your breath already?«, Deengar whispered next to Taeslir’s neck. His hands were roaming over him from behind and he could sense the other’s breathing gaining in speed whenever he moved over parts he knew were his favourites. At a harsh pull on his head Taeslir snapped out of his mindless breathing, his eyes connecting with Deengar’s – if only from the corners of them.

»You’ve hardly done anything to deserve the enjoyable part just now…why don’t you earn it? I won’t just provide your amusement for free«, Deengar explained his plan and forced a long, metal piece between Taeslir’s teeth. He resisted for a moment, even managed to jerk his head out of Deengar’s grip, but at the sound of another lock falling into place behind his head his movements faded away. Deengar praised him – once and shortly – before another restraint bound around his head and covered his eyes.

»Relaxing like I always tell you to«, Deengar observed and moved his fingers over Taeslir’s chest which rising speed had reduced. »Behaving just like a good slut should.«

Naturally, Taeslir’s breathing got stronger again as Deengar’s hands played around with him, but the goal of his restrains wasn’t to quiet him – on the contrary. The sharp hiss at the touch on his thighs and the realisation of Deengar pushing his legs apart were to Deengar’s liking and led to a rise in the strength of his movements. The actual aim the chains around his wrists and in his mouth had was to let the trust he put in Deengar overtake his senses; he needn’t worry for the actions being dissatisfying or dislikeable.

When they had started sleeping with each other frequently, both had found themselves at no satisfaction in the end. Taeslir had wanted to take a say in Deengar’s means of bringing him pleasure, but such measures had prevented as well Taeslir – who couldn’t concentrate on Deengar’s touch since he always evaluated on what he could do differently – as Deengar – he had simply grown tired of Taeslir’s discontent – from finding pleasure within each other. Deengar’s impatience had also been the reason why he had suggested to try something new – something the others never would’ve agreed to – and their specialisation had been found.

The chains rattled at Taeslir’s pull on them, but they didn’t yield one bit. Deengar had made sure his own construction wouldn’t break like many others had done in the past.

»Want me to get started?«, Deengar asked and grabbed onto Taeslir’s hips, his tip pushing in between the cheeks he was holding apart. The shouted moan that resulted from a worded beg which had been muffled was enough for Deengar to start moving. He didn’t spare Taeslir in roughness and pace either; their skin slapping onto each other and forming a persistent noise by their side. That rhythm was kept until Deengar noticed Taeslir’s moans growing to an extent where the following was known to him – he slowed down just before his thrusts could’ve brought Taeslir over the edge.

»You’ll hold on for me. Don’t even thinking about coming without my approval«, Deengar threatened and closed his fingers around Taeslir’s neck. »Or do you want me to remind you of what happened last time you couldn’t obey me?« His thrusts gained in pace again and Taeslir moaned in response. If the noise was meant as a form of understanding or a reaction to Deengar’s addition in slamming against Taeslir’s prostate, mattered little to the vampire. He was fine with either outcome – the one he would choose with Taeslir’s disobeying was longer of course and would bring more joy upon him than on the one he’d be punishing it with, but the other option wasn’t less to his contentment.

He intended to go on until his own limit was reached and usually that situation needed unbearably long to arrive. Taeslir was concentrating on not letting the pleasure he was being met with claim him and therefore any reacting noises or pushes against Deengar were missing. Those reactions were liked by Deengar, he’d find his mind losing itself in Taeslir’s moans and cries he brought upon him. Since they weren’t present as soon as he pronounced the rule, his arousal took longer to arrive than Taeslir was used to. (That condition had often been the reason Deengar’s past attempts at claiming control over Taeslir’s climax had failed.)

Mercy never ruled once he had Taeslir in his power; his thrusts hitting Taeslir’s most sensitive spot with every movement of his hips. He was pounding against him with cruelty and apathy towards Taeslir’s own pleasure. The thought of Taeslir allowing him to do such brought a welcomed sensation towards his genitals eventually. He played with the idea of loosening the chains and leaning Taeslir forwards while his arousal grew at the thought of giving Taeslir the command which would drive him over the edge.

The chains did come loose when his decision had been made, but Taeslir upper body met the mattress with the chains gone from his wrists. His eyesight and the possibility to ask Deengar what he planned on doing were still taken from him, however. Another slam into him after Deengar had placed himself behind him once more came thus with a surprise. His fingers clenched around the sheets, desperately trying to keep his body from slipping of the bed – he wouldn’t of course, Deengar’s hands were holding him up by the hips and would continue to do so. His legs being bend underneath him and therefore not providing any support in carrying his weight still caused him troubles; his knees slipped down to the bed frame and were harshly hitting or rubbing against mentioned spot.

He cried out Deengar’s name and desired for the gagging metal to be removed, his saliva drooling down the corner of his mouth with every moan. The end of his capacities was near and if he managed to get the obstacle between him and Deengar’s climax out of the way, he’d be allowed to let go.

»Deengar…«, he moaned as soon as the metal piece flopped out of his mouth. When fingers curled around his hair and his head was forced up from the mattress, his cock almost disobeyed him and spilled everything right there. The low growl of Deengar ordering him to repeat his name let him hold onto the last small thread that held back his climax though.

He repeated his name over and over again; cried, whined, moaned and yelled at the end as he felt himself being filled and the command which finally allowed him to let his mind be overtaken dripping off Deengar’s lips. His legs shook against the bed frame and he noticed a hole forming underneath one of his claws as his release took him. The thrusts didn’t stop when his body went limb underneath Deengar; they slowly decreased – painfully slowly – before the slapping sound was drowned out by Deengar’s heavy breaths against his back.

Taeslir couldn’t move anymore. No shake when Deengar left him empty, no gasp as he was pushed up onto the bed and no reaction to the blindfold around his head. He lay still and let Deengar throw the upper sheet they had ruined to the floor and the blindfold be removed by the same person. His eyes were still closed when it came off – eyelids to heavy and his will to exhausted to form a command.

The shift of weight next to him caught his attention and he forced every last bit of strength he had left out of his muscles. His arm fell over Deengar’s chest and his nose came to rest against his neck when Deengar pulled on his shoulder strongly. Some mumbled praise left Deengar’s mouth before he capped Taeslir’s cheek and turned his head towards his face.

»What do you think of the human?«, he asked and smiled briefly as Taeslir rested his head against his shoulder in this new position.

»I think he’ll fuck up again…«

»That just means I can break him…I want to crush him right underneath me.«

»Don’t turn me on again…am tired«, Taeslir laughed weakly and snuggled closer to Deengar’s collarbone. »But I think you’ll grow quite fond of him.«

Taeslir smiled at Deengar expressing his doubt.

»You tend to get protective over people or things to your liking«, Taeslir stated and closed his eyes again. »Those feelings will apply to him just as well after some time.«

»Like hell they will…what are you even talking about?«

»Just wait…you’ll see.«

His smile faded as his muscles relaxed – safe and sound arms holding him tightly.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!TW: Mentions of suicidal thoughts!!
> 
> Also, yeah it's been a while. Anyone who's still here, thanks pals!

Lou’s days had become his nights. Daylight didn’t spark his senses anymore, the last memory of the warm beams hitting his skin lay far back in the past, too far to get a hold of the feeling they left on the places they had met. In theory – Lou reckoned – his body would adapt to the new hours as consciousness met him, but instead there was such a strong apathy towards the concept of time he lived with, that time itself was but an arrangement of four letters to him. Still, they hadn’t interrupted his night’s – day’s – whatever term was fitting in the eyes of the reader – rest; to his appreciation. Although a perception of hours didn’t matter to him any longer some peaceful, quiet and undisturbed – apart from Radeel moving out of bed once and returning – of them were very much to his liking. Lou was convinced Radeel hadn’t taken action with the intention to wake him, but his actual reasoning had remained unknown to him as well. The desire to ask Radeel hadn’t arisen, however – neither as he had returned and slung his arm back around him nor now, sitting at the table and watching them leaning over some paper laid out in front of them.

Actually, Lou was content with not being the centre of attention for when Radeel had called him outside after he had woken, he had feared for the worst. But as it was now – a cup of hot tea clasped in between his palms and them discussing topics completely unrelated to him – he felt peace. His thoughts drifted from curious, structured essays of questions his mind had bothered him with since his arrival at consciousness to chaotic glimpses of the previous night. The latter weren’t to his contentment, but preferred over the creatures around him asking questions and expressing their worry for his well-being. Taeslir had done so, had asked him to go back to bed; he didn’t like the way his appearance looked deader than theirs. Although Lou had found out the sun was supposed to set within the next hour, the thought of going to bed again sickened him why he assured Taeslir of his well-being and suggested he wouldn’t put too much of a strain on himself. Yppha continued their short-lived verbal exchange by explaining Lou’d need to manage on his own for a few days and started rambling over what he had prepared and left behind for him. Lou sipped his tea once more and glanced at Deengar and Lax tapping on different parts of a map – he’d find Yppha’s kind preparations of worry on his own when they had left.

They were discussing why they’d need to take the longer route to their destination if there were an easier and faster one. Deengar had been the one to ask, but Lax’ explanation saying it were smart to stay off the main roads and that they’d drive off earlier than originally planned anyway didn’t interest him. He’d want to be there as soon as possible, he exclaimed before he walked off to the side where his bags had been placed.

Lou didn’t spot any weapons among the items they intended to take with them. Even earlier than their discussion he had had the assumption of some attack being planned; the little information he had gained from their conversation had proved him right in the end. He also figured they’d stop by a small camp to meet up with some allies before heading for their actual destination.

At the time their checks on the bags and the words flowing to each other came to an end, their disappearing was right on hand and Lou wished for their return to be known to him; Radeel’s answer being a week, maybe longer even. He shouldn’t try anything while they were gone and not go searching the place, he added and slung a – apparently heavy since his body leaned to the side after he had done so – bag over his shoulder. He had allowed him to sleep in his room earlier, but other than that Lou had figured himself that nosing around was prohibited without the need to be issued first.

Yppha and Taeslir bid him goodbye and Liu squeezed his arm tightly once before running after Deengar and Lax who had left the room earlier. A smile welcomed him into the explanation that they would lock the front door, but Yppha had left the window in his room open for him.

»Lou?«, Radeel mumbled, one foot already placed behind the threshold. Their eyes met with a low hum of the addressed person. »Take care of yourself.«

The door closed in front of his eyes after he had nodded once and they closed themselves the moment the click of its lock met his ears. Exhaustion wasn’t the word Lou thought of when his cheek landed on the table, his arms crossed over each other above his head. He felt rested, even though a heaviness was lying in his limbs; he had labelled the sensation tiredness when he had arisen from the bed. The term didn’t feel right with him now.

He forced an arm under his head, the table was dislikeable for a place to rest, and glanced over to the pile of books. They had – Yppha and Lax had, he doubted they lay in the others’ interest – provided him with them. Reading never was a habit of his, rarely owning any might had contributed to that. The closeness to books he lived by now allowed him to ingulf in them though. There still were more interesting activities to go after, he mused.

A breath got caught in his throat. He held onto it for a moment and when he released it from his grasp his eyes flew shut with it – mind blank. Blank of any likings he had possessed before this. The realisation of that lack inside of him were unknown to him until just now, they had never questioned him anything related to his previous life. Not that it were beneficial to them – which was probably the reason they hadn’t asked. What interested them was flopped down on the table, small like the books in his gaze, and their property just like any other object in this room.

A thought had banned its way into his head earlier when he had woken. It was one of the first he had had after confusion and pain had finally drowned out. It wasn’t complex, nothing earthshattering either, nothing but a question standing alone in the room of his empty mind – now as well as in bed.

Why?

There were too many of them to even answer them all and he surely couldn’t do so on his own. Answers were the key he had told himself and if the key were found to all his little questions he sure could answer his biggest one. The one no one but himself could give an answer to; he had asked himself many times.

Was it his fear of them? – of death? – of consequences? Or was it a term straying farther than anything else from that assumption; Hope? Since his first day Lou had hoped for a life. Then for forgiveness, for praise and for validation. Yesterday he had longed for the end, had been sure of his thoughts and aims as soon as they were gone – but now? Here, all alone, he asked himself what he had hoped for to happen. Were he to follow the idea his mind came up not long ago, they wouldn’t torment him any longer – would it end all of his suffering? – And still, among all his apathy for his surroundings, his own feelings and his confidence he had had when he agreed to this, there was a tiny – oh it was so tiny he didn’t even believe it was still in him – flame burning shallowly. He dared to call it his will even – his spite – his wrath; nothing had killed him before this, so why would he give up on himself now?

Lou straightened himself, leaned back on his chair and rubbed his eyes harshly. Blinking the dark dots and his doubt away, he stemmed his arms onto the table and heaved himself from the chair. The cup wouldn’t bring itself into the kitchen, the books weren’t going to read themselves and his will wouldn’t return on its own.

He wouldn’t give up on himself.

There was no actual aim he followed when he plumped down on one of the sofas and picked up the first book on top. Reading of course were what one could’ve called his plan, but in his own mind the process of finishing the books wasn’t his destination, more so it was the road leading to it – leading to something his mind and heart couldn’t touch yet.

The story in his hands had almost come to its end when a tremble overcame them. The chillness ran down his spine and up to the tip of his fingers and with its origin being undetectable any action to prevent it from spreading was unavailable. Lou sighed when he realised he wasn’t able to finish the story without taking care of the feeling and got up. The idea of wrapping himself in a blanket reminded him too much of a bed to satisfy him wherefore he headed for the tub in Radeel’s bathroom, attaining warmness from external sources rather than himself was faster anyway.

As the water level rose and his hands ran through the water, his thoughts were doing the same; water could fill the space around him instead of the tub he were to lower himself into. Would they care if the first case occurred? – A dead body was nothing they could make use of unlike a mind in that state. He slid into the tub and leaned against the wall. The freeze vanished after some minutes and Lou convinced himself, a little bit of sleep was for the better after all – for both his bodily and mental condition. Hunger was something he’d take care of still before the other, however.

Any further descriptions of Lou’s days were neither different than already mentioned nor would they serve any other purpose than telling Lou’s story to the destination he had longed for – or maybe just a layover that resembled a goal in his eyes. The only crucial aspect to Lou’s arrival at that satisfaction was the open window he had access to. It hadn’t attracted him until a line in one of the books had told him about landscapes with hills full of trees and mountains darkening the valley from far away that the picture forming in his head seemed awfully familiar to one of his memories. The view he had then had access to – different from the pieces he remembered – was what acted as his gateway to the place he had sought out. The beauty of nature outside hadn’t altered, but to Lou’s eyes the warm, golden beams colouring the meadows and trees created a picture so different from the one in his mind that he hadn’t dared comparing them. A smile formed on his lips and unlike the few others he had shared with the vampires this one was standing alone, needing no one’s artificial aid in shining as bright as the white dot Lou looked at.

He had achieved something on his own again.

Apart from reaching a contentment of his heart, Lou had finally managed to clean the main hall with the usual doers missing. The candles he had lit to make the words on the pages visible had left their traces around the place, the small table at the side of the sofa and the kitchen mostly, but still Lou put his hands onto everything in the room he was allowed to reach.

For the necessity of a time span; Lou had awoken three times so far. The latest rising of his eyelids had occurred when the sun was about to set, he had watched the pleasant change of colours on the sky and as it disappeared the window had been closed, Lou walking off to the kitchen. He did what he felt like doing and when he felt like doing it; no order meant no duties he had to follow, and no duties meant he could relax without a worry.

Worry might not have accompanied him for the past few days; they had flown by without any stressful situations bound to them, but today when another book had found its way into his hands, his peace were to be disturbed. The door flung open while he was rested on one of the sofas again – louder and with such a bang he hadn’t experienced when the guards had come to check up on him yesterday. For one it weren’t the guards who entered the room and the ones who did had all the reason to yank the door off its hinges.

His perception was simply to slow to process the happenings in detail; a complete picture of the vampires presented itself to him just as they had gathered around the table – staying still and staring. All eyes lay upon the two creatures lying on the table they had been put on. Lou’s eyes had caught some glimpses of red on them while they had rushed over to lay their comrades down, but what was placed on the table let the image of a bloody, gaping wound appear harmless. Lou was chilled to the core and was convinced any other injury he’d ever seen had not frightened him as much as these.

As his gaze came to rest on Taeslir, he realised he had chosen the wrong term for what he was observing; any mortal being would’ve been a lifeless corpse. The little skin that was still identifiable as such was covered in soot and blood and were it not for the slight rise of Taeslir’s chest every now and then, Lou’d have been convinced he wasn’t among them any longer.

»Radeel, we’ve got to do something!«, Deengar screamed from the top of his lungs and clenched his fingers around Taeslir’s remains of clothing, trying desperately to wake him.

The addressed person was leaning over Liu’s head who themselves was severely hurt. A black, rootlike disease spread from their stomach up to their chest and the lines on the skin were steadily growing. Although they seemed to be in pain – jerking out of Lax’ and Radeel’s grip violently – their condition appeared more stable to Lou than Taeslir’s. Deengar had been mumbling on about how they’d get blood or some bandages or other supplies, and visibly ran out of breath as he leaned further over Taeslir – preparing himself to take him with him.

»Deengar, Deengar, hey, look at me«, Radeel yelled and teared his arms away from Taeslir’s torso. He had noticed Deengar clawing his fingers into the fabric between them, determined to not let Taeslir be hurt if Deengar’s control ceased into oblivion. »Deengar, you need to calm down.«

»We need to do something!«, he hissed in response and jerked out of Radeel’s grip only to be met with an even stronger one on both his arms. »Let go – I – we need to help him - «

»We’re working on that.«

»You’re not working fast enough!«, Deengar cried out and turned away the second he had realised a tremble would overtake his lower lip. »He’s – he’s going to…he’ll die, Radeel!«

»We won’t - «

»He’s not healing fast enough…you need to…I need to – I’ll save him…«

His hands clenched into fists and the pulls against Radeel restraining him turned shaky and strengthless.

Lou watched; his head would’ve continued to form thoughtless pictures in it, had not Deengar’s choked statement enlightened one of his memories. In similar pace and volume, the words, stating he knew how he could heal again, fled from his lips and the next instant – their eyes hadn’t even connected to his yet – Yppha had picked him up and he found himself in Liu’s room. On the order to do so, he blurted out what he remembered from the conversation they had had and observed Yppha digging his way through Liu’s cupboards. Everything – his way there, Yppha’s searching and his way back – happened in less than Lou’s possible range of perception and an arising dizziness throbbed in his forehead the moment he was standing next to Taeslir and the others again. His eyebrows rose significantly as the items Yppha had collected were pushed into his hands with the instruction to do what Liu had shown him. A shaking in his hand, he turned towards the man he was supposed to heal.

»Lou? Do you know what you have to do?«, Radeel wanted to know and caught Lou’s eyes on him. A pained expression adorned his features as he explained, they’d merely told him, and repeated the statement to them. Radeel turned to Lax asking if he had ever come across such a technique, but before he could even finish the question the other had already shook his head. The same gesture was replied by Yppha after the inquiry if Liu had awoken yet.

»Do you have a better idea?«, Yppha questioned just as Radeel was to express his doubt about trusting Liu’s method. Judging from what Liu had told and proved to them about the stored energy in the vial, a chance of it boosting their own capacities might not even be that small, he added. Radeel breathed shakily, looked down on Deengar who was crouching next to the table, holding onto Taeslir’s hand and glanced at Lou again. Scolding their own incapacity under his breath, he suggested to ready themselves to hold Taeslir down at the risk of an unexpected turnout of Lou’s doing. Lou had reassuringly told them earlier how he remembered Liu piercing that energy into him – or more so the feeling – and were able to perform the treatment on Taeslir. Now – the sharp pole connected to the vial through an opening on top and right at hand to pierce into Taeslir’s chest – Lou’s fingers were disobeying, shaking, and his muscles refused his set idea.

His eyes closed.

The tip was positioned over Taeslir’s heart and Lou forced his fingers to wrap around it, keeping them from trembling. Again, a question blocked his way to get his hand to move, however, Lou figured the answer didn’t matter, he was doing it right now, he would do it right now, a reason wasn’t needed to perform that action. A shallow breath dragged Liu’s words along and Lou – unlike intended – rammed the tip into Taeslir’s chest.

When he opened his eyes again any movement of the others had vanished – everyone stared down on the pole inside Taeslir’s motionless chest.

»Radeel…he stopped breathing…«, Deengar whispered and squeezed the hand wrapped in his gently. His eyes flickered upwards and he would’ve jumped right onto Lou’s neck hadn’t Lax captured him in his arms, holding him back by the shoulders. The same blaming phrase dropped from his lips over and over while his claws cut through the air distancing him and Lou; they sounded more like unaccepting cries of repeating what Lou had done more than threats of vengeance. (You killed him…you killed him…you -)

Lou looked down on the pole sticking out of the dead body.

»… but it’s quite dangerous if you do it wrong…«

Liu’s words echoed in his head; his hope and determination of being of help burst with the words reaching his conscience. He’d longed for that kind of achievement, now what he had managed wouldn’t bring any gratitude upon him. Shame didn’t sit right with him if he had to tell someone what he felt as he pulled on the pole, not wanting it to stay in that position; presenting his failure to everyone outright. He couldn’t have known better, he mused – tried to convince himself – and silently accepted whatever was to come next.

Which was a choked gasp for air and a tremble as soon as the pole left Taeslir’s chest; he shot upwards, but his strength ceased and nothing, but his shoulder blades were lifted from the table for a second. Deengar rushed forward, Lax surprise had given him the opportunity to pull away, and clasped Taeslir’s fingers between his palms again – this time the man jerked away weakly, the burned wounds weren’t any less present on his hands and Deengar’s strong grip on them was sure to hurt on itself already.

»Keep him awake…as long as possible…«, Liu’s voice sounded quietly from the other end of the table and Deengar was onto that without second thought, striving to keep Taeslir’s attention on him and away from the tiredness seeming to claim him again. Radeel acted as well and stood by Liu’s side the next instant; they were telling him something – Lou could only see their lips moving, the noise was inaudible to his ears – and Radeel ran off into their room.

He returned with something that reminded Lou of a bulb, it had a wooden handle attached to it – the rest being made of glass – and possessed a rather big, round opening on the one and another smaller one on the other side. There was another little opening where Liu dribbled a few drops of their blood into before Yppha set fire to a thin string slinging around the inside of the bulb. Liu pressed it down onto the wound on their stomach and asked Yppha to hold onto the handle for them.

»I’m going to pass out again, just make sure that thing stays where it is until I’m not covered in these lines anymore«, they said and flinched slightly. The process of Liu’s healing was less striking than Taeslir’s in spite of the three of them needing to hold them down, giving Lou into the charge of pressing the bulb onto Liu’s skin. Black smoke rose from the small opening on top and the – poisonous Lou had labelled them – traces on Liu’s body reduced over time.

Taeslir had fallen back into unconsciousness too, although his state reassembled sleep more than the previous, lifeless faint as Deengar carried him off to lie him down into one of their beds, he explained, and the others were done just as well, with Liu resting soundly in Yppha’s arms. Lax excused himself when Radeel began cleaning up the materials they had used and walked off with Yppha into the same direction.

»Do you…want to talk about it?«, Lou asked and crushed his own fingers in between each other as Radeel glanced up from the table. They had got attacked, was all he answered before he picked up the pole, vial and bulb from the table and walked off to his room.

»You can go to Laxseau or Deengar if you need something«, Radeel mentioned without stopping to look back at him. »They’re the ones who are least injured.«

Lou heard the door flying shut and sank down on the chair furthest away from the blood stains on the table. Some thoughts had been created on their own – mostly while Lou was reading, his mind just couldn’t stay away from playing out scenarios – and all of them fancied some future situation he’d need to force himself out of. He had quite the opposite at hand, Lou reckoned. Forcing himself into their lives was what he’d go after the next couple of days.


End file.
